seaQwa.com asked Zan McColloch-Lussier, Pride Foundation's Director of Communications, to respond to a few questions we had about the Wieland bequest [see Qnews summary]. Despite being inundated with press inquiries about the bequest, Zan was kind enough to respond.

seaQwa: What changes can LGBT organizations in the Northwest expect as a result of the expanded endowment? How soon?
Zan McColloch-Lussier: This is a tricky question to answer. It is very important to us that the community’s expectations of our funding are closely matched with how it will actually change. Ric’s gift was to our general endowment, which means it will be invested and the gains from it will benefit our programs forever.

Spending endowment funds is both gradual and modest in order to make the funds last, and support the work, indefinitely.  Pride Foundation follows investment best practices and policies and will spend approximately 1% of the endowment in 2008, 2% in 2009, and so on until we begin spending 5% in 2011. At this point the endowment will continue to provide 5% forever.

So we expect to see a gradual increase in the funds available for granting. Pride Foundation’s board of directors has just embarked on our 2009-2012 strategic plan, which will inform us of how we can best support our community’s organizations and leaders with these new funds, and all donations to Pride Foundation.

Will Pride Foundation maintain its Northwest focus?
ZML: Yes, we will continue to focus on the NW states of AK, ID, MT, OR and WA.

Will the task of managing the gifts require the Foundation to add staff?
ZML: In terms of managing the money, no. Pride Foundation’s endowment is managed by Walden Asset Management of Boston and they have more than sufficient skill to handle the gift.

In terms of program staff, we are not currently planning to expand staffing. Regardless of Ric’s gift, Pride Foundation knows that to truly work with LGBT and  straight ally  leaders in our 5 state funding area (AK, ID, MT, OR,WA) we will need to increase our staffing at some point. Thanks to the support of our over 4,000 donors Pride Foundation’s staffing has grown to 14 people with offices in Portland, OR and Seattle and Spokane.

Do you anticipate challenges to your fundraising efforts as a result of the bequest?
ZML: We fully expect that if there are any changes to our fundraising it will be for the positive. We have received so many messages of support and enthusiasm from our donors after this announcement. They understand that Ric’s gift only helps their gift to be that much more effective.

Ric gave so heavily to Pride Foundation because we are a community of donors. People who care about LGBT equality in the NW give to us because they know their gift is making a difference. As long as they continue caring about the community they are likely to keep giving to Pride Foundation. We also anticipate that people who haven’t heard of Pride Foundation before will now know of our work and of Ric’s endorsement, and we welcome them to join our efforts.

It strikes me that managing the designated fund gives Pride greater prominence among national LGBT organizations. Am I right about that?
ZML: I am not sure if "prominence" is the right word, but it sure helps us to build and establish relationships. One of the things that we are planning to do is start a series of discussions here in the Northwest with the beneficiaries. Our area has so many committed LGBT activists and we would like to utilize our relationship with these 10 amazing organizations to bring them closer to our supporters and make sure that people here are hearing directly from our community’s national leaders.

How (if at all) do you think Pride's relationship with national organizations (and national gay media) will change as a result of the designated fund?
ZML: As I mentioned, we hope to be a bridge to bring the national LGBT and HIV/AIDS organizations closer to people here in the NW. As for the gay media, I hope that many of them will remember to keep in touch with us so that we can share with them all the stories of groups and leaders here in the NW that are building LGBT equality.