ABSTRACT
The lesbian and gay rights movement faces a number of barriers that are unique to it. Despite the best efforts of people such as Sean Strub, who has done an incredible and largely unheralded job of building the universe of gay direct-mail donors, there is still too limited a universe. The few lists that are available are in danger of being completely tapped out from the constant solicitations; and the universe is not only getting exhausted, it's shrinking. If this situation is going to change, there have to be concerted and well-planned efforts to expand the circle of potential gay and lesbian donors. Also, with many of those who can best afford to make generous contributions still deeply closeted, the challenge of raising funds for lesbian and gay rights remains formidable even after twenty years of tilling the fields. Yet, when one looks at the number of other causes that raise big money—and where so much less is at stake—it's clear we have some advantages, in terms of how this impacts our donors. Certainly the AIDS crisis has dramatically changed the entire context that we face in raising money, at least in the gay male community.
