The Pride Foundation wants you to nominate your favorite not-for-profit organization in their "Raffle With a Twist," where it will randomly draw and award $2,500 to one lucky nonprofit. An additional $1,000 will go to the most nominated not-for-profit orgs.
Zan McColloch-Lussier, communication director of the Pride Foundation, says they are a "community foundation" to which 3,500 people give money each year. Then, he says, "We pool it and turn it into grants and educational scholarships."
The Pride Foundation's mission, according to its web site, is to connect, inspire and strengthen the Pacific Northwest Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community in pursuit of equality.
This is accomplished, says McColloch-Lussier, by awarding grants to not-for-profit organizations and educational scholarships in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington.
The Pride Foundation has given away about $8 million over the past 20 years, says McColloch-Lussier.
All raffle entries must be received by Sept. 22, 2008. One nonprofit will be randomly drawn to win the $2,500 grant from a pool of all five Pacific Northwest states. Thereafter, five of the most nominated organizations will be awarded $1,000 each.
"The group that gets nominated the most and did not win the $2,500 random drawing, from each of the five states, wins $1,000 each," he says.
Last year's winners included two Washington not-for-profit organizations.
Seattle International District Housing Alliance, an organization that works to improve the quality of life for International District residents, Asian and Pacific Islanders of greater Seattle, won the $2,500 random drawing.
The most nominated organization and winners of the $1,000 prize in Washington was the Lambert House. The organization provides support to Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and questioning youth (GLBTQ).
Four additional $1,000 grants were awarded to Alaska Identity Ink, Idaho Women's Network, Montana's Yellowstone AIDS Project and Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette in Oregon.
Raffle winners are free to use the money as they see fit. There isn't a stipulation in the rules as to how the money is to be used, says McColloch-Lussier. The group must have an official policy "that they do not discriminate on the basis of either sexual orientation or gender identity."
Elaine Simons, Executive Director and co-founder, Peace on the Streets by Kids on the Streets, says if their organization were to win, they would use the money to "create a dialogue between the kids of my agency that identified under GLBTQ, and the kids who are not gay so they get along better and understand each other better."
The raffle is "a way to get people excited about giving away money and thinking about what groups they care about--and really good for organizations like Elaine's [PSKS], because it gives them a chance to get their people excited about something," says McColloch-Lussier. "It's just one of the ways we give out money--a big part of our mission is to inspire people to just give."
To nominate your favorite not-for-profit organization, go tohttp://www.pridefoundation.org, follow the "Raffle With a Twist" link and name your organization. The process takes less than a minute.