Please note that effective January 2014 the Gamma Mu Foundation will be only accepting grants and scholarships applications online.

Since creation in 1988, the Gamma Mu Foundation has sought to fund projects in rural and/or underserved areas that provide support to the LGBT community. In 1999, the Foundation expanded its granting policies to include grants for programs other than HIV/AIDS. These included undergraduate and advance degree scholarships to gay men as well as grants to organizations meeting special needs in LGBT subpopulations such as youths, seniors, and victims of domestic violence. The Foundation also provides research and public education grants aimed at making the world a more hospitable place for people regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. In all cases, the Foundation seeks to provide funds to organizations located in rural and/or underserved areas where the need is great and the resources often very limited. The Foundation has awarded grants and scholarships totaling more than $2,000,000, the vast majority awarded to organizations and individuals in rural and/or underserved areas.

Grants and scholarships are awarded annually based on a formal online application and Board of Directors approval process. Only organizations and individuals in the United States are eligible for Gamma Mu Foundation financial assistance. All organizations qualifying for Gamma Mu Foundation assistance must qualify as 501(c)(3) charitable organizations as defined by the Internal Revenue Service. The Foundation will not award grants for more than three consecutive grants cycles. If an organization has received three consecutive grants, it will be required to wait for one year prior to re-applying for funding. With the exception of scholarships, Gamma Mu Foundation does not make financial assistance grants to individuals.

Although the Gamma Mu Foundation strives to target its resources in truly rural and/or underserved areas, we realize the difficulty in defining "rural" in the present day. This is especially true in the GLBT community where support organizations tend to exist in more urban areas. In considering geographic location, however, the review committee strives to assess the relative size of the available GLBT community and the ability of the organization to obtain funding locally. In addition, the definitions of rural provided by the U.S. Census and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services are taken into consideration.

For more information on our grants and scholarship programs please visit the links on the right of this page or email the Grants Director at grants@gammamufoundation.org or the Scholarships Director at scholarships@gammamufoundation.org.