What Horizons Foundation does

Horizons Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public charity established in 1980 as the world's first community foundation of, by, and for LGBTQ people, headquartered at 155 Sansome Street in San Francisco. The foundation's core function is philanthropic intermediation: it pools donations from individuals, institutional funders, and legacy/estate gifts, then redistributes those funds as grants, scholarships, and multi-year infrastructure support to LGBTQ-serving nonprofits primarily within the nine counties of the San Francisco Bay Area. Under President Roger Doughty's 23-year tenure, assets have grown from $2 million to $72 million, the permanent endowment has expanded from under $1 million to more than $20 million, and annual grantmaking has reached approximately $12 million.

The foundation operates a portfolio of interlocking programs: the Community Issues Funding Program (general operating support to 66+ grassroots organizations), the Trans POC Initiative (multi-year infrastructure grants of up to $100,000/year to transgender people-of-color-led groups), the LGBTQ Donor Engagement Program, the Safety and Security Fund, and the Horizons LGBTQ Scholarship program. It also runs the Global Faith and Equality Fund, the LGBTQ Community Endowment Fund, the national Give OUT Day giving campaign, and the Horizons Forum educational series. Supporting infrastructure includes the SF Bay Area LGBTQ Organization Directory, a Directory of Professional Advisors, and a FreeWill-powered legacy-giving portal.

The business model is contribution-based rather than commercial: revenue is generated through donations, planned giving, bequests, donor-advised funds, and endowment returns, with no products or services sold to customers. Distribution is conducted directly through grant agreements, scholarship awards, and partnership-mediated channels — including a prime-contractor role on the California Department of Public Health's LGBTQ Health Equity Initiative. The foundation employs 11–50 staff and is governed by a Board of Directors co-chaired by Dipti Ghosh and Shilpen Patel. President Doughty has announced his retirement effective late 2026, triggering a formal succession process with executive search firm NPAG.

Name

Horizons Foundation

Legal name

Horizons Foundation

Website

https://horizonsfoundation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Horizons Foundation is a 501(c)(3) community foundation established in 1980 as the first LGBTQ-focused community foundation in the United States. It pools donations and endowment capital to make grants, scholarships, and multi-year infrastructure support to Bay Area LGBTQ nonprofits and broader initiatives.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Foundation / LGBTQ Philanthropy

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Grantmaking and Giving Services (8132)

akta.pro primary industry

Community Foundations (BPAGAKAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Social Justice & Human Rights Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAN), International Grantmaking & Development Foundations (BPAGAKAH), Grantmaking & Philanthropic Funds (Institutional Donors) (BPADAOAB)

Keywords

• Community foundation
• LGBTQ philanthropy
• Donor-advised funds
• Charitable grantmaking
• Community endowment

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Philanthropic Grantmaking: Horizons Foundation operates as a community foundation that makes grants to LGBTQ nonprofits. The foundation generates revenue through donations, planned giving, and endowment management rather than selling products or services. The foundation manages various funds including donor-advised funds, the LGBTQ Community Endowment Fund, and specific initiative funds.
2. Legacy/Planned Giving: The foundation promotes legacy giving programs including bequests, and has generated more than $150 million in gifts identified for Horizons' future work for the community through planned giving initiatives.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Horizons Foundation is the world's first LGBTQ community foundation, established in 1980 in San Francisco. It supports the LGBTQ community by managing an approximately $72M endowment and deploying roughly $12M in annual grants through targeted programs (Community Issues Funding Program, Trans POC Initiative, Donor Engagement), scholarships and fellowships, donor-advised funds and the LGBTQ Community Endowment Fund. The foundation also maintains an LGBTQ Organization Directory, a Grants Directory and the Horizons Forum convening platform.

Product overview

Horizons Foundation is the world's first community foundation of, by, and for LGBTQ people, established in 1980. The foundation operates as a centralized platform offering multiple interconnected funding programs and services: the Community Issues Funding Program (flagship general operating support grants), the LGBTQ Donor Engagement Program, LGBTQ Scholarships and Fellowships (including Markowski-Leach and Albers-Alexander funds), the Trans POC Initiative for transgender people of color organizations, and the LGBTQ Organization Directory as a community resource. Additional offerings include Donor-Advised Funds, the LGBTQ Community Endowment Fund for legacy giving, Horizons Forum educational events, the Safety and Security Fund, and a Grants Directory. The foundation's assets have grown to $72 million with an endowment of over $20 million, and grantmaking has risen to $12 million annually.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Community Issues Funding Program: Horizons Foundation's flagship funding program providing general operating support to grassroots LGBTQ organizations in the SF Bay Area.
• LGBTQ Donor Engagement Program
• Horizons LGBTQ Scholarship
• Global Faith and Equality Fund
• LGBTQ Community Endowment Fund
• Give OUT Day

Products and services

• Community Issues Funding Program Grantmaking program supporting Bay Area-based LGBTQ nonprofits addressing pressing community issues through flexible funding for programs and operations.
• Trans POC Initiative Dedicated funding initiative supporting transgender people of color-led organizations and projects, addressing documented underfunding of trans POC communities.
• Donor Engagement Program Program cultivating LGBTQ donors and managing the foundation's relationships with individual philanthropists supporting LGBTQ causes.
• LGBTQ Scholarships and Fellowships Educational award program providing scholarships and fellowships to LGBTQ students pursuing higher education.
• Donor-Advised Funds for the LGBTQ Community Hosted donor-advised fund vehicles that allow individual donors to direct philanthropic support to LGBTQ causes through a pooled fund.
• LGBTQ Community Endowment Fund Permanent pooled endowment fund established to ensure multi-generational financial support for the LGBTQ community.
• LGBTQ Organization Directory Public online directory of LGBTQ-serving organizations maintained by the foundation to help donors and community members identify community resources.
• Grants Directory Online directory of available grants published by the foundation to inform prospective applicants and the community.
• Horizons Forum Convening program bringing together donors, grantees and community stakeholders for events and dialogue around LGBTQ philanthropic priorities.
• Legacy Giving through FreeWill Legacy-giving offering enabled through an integration with the FreeWill online estate-planning platform, allowing individuals to plan bequests and planned gifts to the foundation.

Quantifiable outcome

• $1.46 million awarded to 66 LGBTQ nonprofits in 2025 (largest annual total in 45-year history)
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 March 2025Partnership to expose Project 2025's global efforts to dismantle fundamental human rights. Horizons hosted a Horizons Forum in March 2025 to share GPAHE's groundbreaking report on the export of far-right, Christian nationalist agenda worldwide. The report was made possible through a grant from the Global Faith and Equality Fund at Horizons Foundation.
• California LGBTQ Health Equity InitiativecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Partnership with California state government to distribute nearly $2 million over two years to nonprofits delivering gender-affirming care to LGBTQ people. Horizons served as prime contractor, bridging state funding with grassroots organizations including Young Women's Freedom Center, Lyon-Martin Community Health, Gender Health Center, El/La Para TransLatinas, Pacific Center for Human Growth, and San Francisco Community Health Center.
• Civil Marriage CollaborativemajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2012Highly effective national initiative for marriage equality. Roger Doughty provided leadership in this sector-wide initiative and the fight against California's Proposition 8.
• NPAG (Executive Search Firm)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerRetained executive search firm to support the search for Horizons Foundation's next president following Roger Doughty's retirement announcement. NPAG does extensive work in the philanthropic and social justice sectors.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Gill Foundation: Founded by Tim Gill, the Gill Foundation is one of the largest US foundations focused exclusively on advancing equality for LGBTQ people through grantmaking, advocacy, and movement-building. Directly comparable as an LGBTQ-focused national grantmaking foundation.
• Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice: Astraea is a public foundation and philanthropic fund working at the intersection of LGBTQI+, racial, economic, and gender justice globally. Comparable to Horizons as a dedicated LGBTQ grantmaking organization that regrants funds and supports movement infrastructure across regions.
• Point Foundation: Point Foundation is the largest LGBTQ scholarship-granting organization in the US, providing scholarships and mentorship to LGBTQ students. Comparable to Horizons' LGBTQ Scholarships and Fellowships program, though Point is exclusively a scholarship funder rather than a community foundation.
• Elton John AIDS Foundation: The Elton John AIDS Foundation funds frontline partners addressing HIV/AIDS, with significant overlap on LGBTQ health and community support. Comparable as a high-profile LGBTQ-aligned grantmaker supporting grantees including several that Horizons also funds.
• Arcus Foundation: Arcus Foundation is a leading global foundation focused exclusively on LGBTQ rights and social justice, including great ape conservation. It is directly comparable as a dedicated LGBTQ grantmaking foundation with significant assets, making it the closest peer in mission, scale, and approach to Horizons Foundation.

Emerging players

• National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR): NCLR is a national LGBTQ legal advocacy organization that also serves as a fiscal sponsor and supports litigation and movement infrastructure. Partially comparable to Horizons as part of the LGBTQ nonprofit ecosystem in the Bay Area, though focused on legal advocacy rather than community grantmaking.

Broad incumbents

• Tides Foundation: Tides Foundation is a major progressive philanthropy platform offering donor-advised funds and grantmaking services to social justice and LGBTQ movements. Comparable to Horizons as a grantmaking intermediary with shared values and overlapping grantee networks, but operating at much larger scale and broader thematic scope.
• Boston Foundation: The Boston Foundation is one of the oldest and largest community foundations in the US with over $1.5B in assets. Comparable to Horizons as a community foundation model serving a defined metropolitan region, though operating at substantially greater scale and broader thematic scope.
• San Francisco Foundation: San Francisco Foundation is one of the largest community foundations in the US with over $1B in assets, serving the Bay Area across all communities. Comparable as a geographically adjacent community foundation sharing some donor and grantee ecosystems with Horizons but operating at much larger scale and broader scope.
• Silicon Valley Community Foundation: Silicon Valley Community Foundation is one of the largest community foundations globally, serving the Bay Area including LGBTQ causes as part of a broad portfolio. Comparable as a regional community foundation with overlapping geography but operating at much greater scale and with a much wider mandate.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/horizonsfdn
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/horizonsfoundation
• Facebookfacebook.com/HorizonsFoundation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/horizons-foundation
• Instagraminstagram.com/horizonsfoundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Horizons Foundation