Date: Thu, 07 Aug 1997 18:36:51 -0700 From: Eros Publishing Subject: Press Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DO NOT PUBLISH AFTER 12/31/97 CONTACT: TED LORD, 206-323-3318 PRIDE FOUNDATION RECEIVES LARGEST GIFT EVER TO A GAY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION Seattle, WA, August 12, 1997: The Pride Foundation announced at its Summer Grants Celebration that it has received a gift of $930,660 towards its endowment from the Allan T. Tonning Foundation. This is the largest gift ever made to a lesbian and gay community foundation and will generate approximately $60,000 or more each year to support the Pride Foundation grantmaking, scholarship, and community building programs. The Tonning Foundation was established in 1989 with a gift from the estate of Allan Tonning. A long-term community activist, Allan was one of the Pride Foundation's founders in 1985, and served as the first Board President. He created the Tonning Foundation and directed that upon his death it support the work of the Pride Foundation for an initial period of five years, a commitment of support which was renewed in 1993. The $60,000 a year that the Pride Foundation received each year from the Tonning Foundation provided both stability and impetus for Pride's rapid growth and helped Pride become a nationwide model for lesbian and gay community foundations. In the early years this annual funding from the Tonning Foundation helped underwrite Pride's first paid staff, allowing the marketing and development work that enabled Pride to grant its $1 millionth dollar this past February. The Tonning Foundation also provided a special $50,000 matching fund for the first round of Stand Up and Be Counted in 1993/94. This special funding initiative was designed to support education, outreach and visibility projects of organizations working to change hearts and minds in the gay and lesbian community's struggle against discrimination. Over $100,000 was raised and granted to non-profits throughout Washington State that had been impacted by the threat of anti-gay ballot initiatives. At its most recent annual meeting the trustees of the Tonning Foundation decided that the Pride Foundation's growth, professionalism, and responsiveness to the community had fulfilled the charter of their stewardship. They voted to transfer the entire corpus of the Tonning Foundation to the Pride Foundation's permanent endowment so that the work Allan had envisioned as a Pride Foundation founder would continue in perpetuity. A Tonning Foundation Trustee, Mary Kay Wright commented "When the Pride Foundation gave away its first million dollars in grants and scholarships, I knew that Allan's vision of a proactive resource for the gay and lesbian community had been met." Pride Foundation Executive Director Ted Lord added, "Allan's vision of a foundation to build all sectors and develop a tradition of giving has been realized. His leadership and generosity will continue to impact lives in the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community for decades to come." [The Pride Foundation is a Seattle-based community foundation dedicated to strengthening our lesbian and gay community throughout Washington State and the Pacific Northwest. Its primary focus is on raising funds for its permanent endowment and twice-yearly granting cycles. Since 1987, Pride has made grants of over $1 million to more than 150 non-profit organizations involved in youth services, AIDS education and support, recreation, the arts, advocacy, and a wide range of health and human service programs.]