Freeman Foundation

Freeman Foundation is a Washington DC-based private foundation that operates as an invitation-based grantmaker exclusively focused on LGBTQ+ rights, sexual liberation, and trans justice, with particular emphasis on the American South. Founded in 1990 and operating as a trust (EIN 52-1667228) from 1717 K St NW, it has no public website, no published RFP, and no application portal — a deliberate posture that reflects its relationship-driven, trustee-directed model.

The foundation's giving philosophy centers on sustained community investment rather than project-based funding. More than 65% of all grants carry the designation 'general support,' signaling a preference for building organizational capacity over funding discrete programs. When specific projects are funded — the Creating Change Conference sexual liberation track, the Trans Emergency Care Program, the Queer Mobilization Fund — they tend to be movement infrastructure: convenings, rapid-response vehicles, and community assessment tools that benefit entire ecosystems rather than single organizations.

The trustee composition shapes the agenda meaningfully. Rea Carey served as Executive Director of the National LGBTQ Task Force from 2007-2018, during which time the Creating Change Conference grew into the largest national LGBTQ+ gathering. Her continued trusteeship explains Freeman's multi-year investment in Task Force programming and conference scholarships. Rye Young is a nationally recognized trans activist and organizer, explaining the foundation's emergency-response grants for trans youth and its support for trans housing programs. Ryan Li Dahlstrom brings community-based LGBTQ advocacy expertise. Trustee Weston F. Milliken serves as the contact person and likely primary donor.

First-time applicants must understand there is no cold-application pathway to the foundation itself. The relationship progression runs: organizational visibility within Southern LGBTQ+ networks → trustee or peer-grantee referral → initial invitation for general support → escalating multi-year investment. Alliance for Full Acceptance (AFFA) of South Carolina is the single structured entry point for smaller organizations — AFFA administers a small grants program using Freeman dollars for LGBTQ+ youth-serving organizations across SC, NC, and GA, distributing upward of $60,000 annually. This is the only publicly accessible application process connected to Freeman funding.

Organizations that have received 5+ grants from Freeman — AFFA (11 grants, $570,000), Campaign for Southern Equality (7 grants, $325,000), Southern Vision Alliance (5 grants, $190,000) — illustrate the depth and durability of core partnerships. Building toward that kind of relationship requires sustained presence at the convenings and within the organizational networks that Freeman's trustees actively inhabit.

Freeman Foundation distributed $719,500 across 23 grants in FY2024, up from $573,500 (27 grants) in FY2023, $494,000 (FY2022), and $501,500 (FY2021). The FY2025 filing shows approximately $781,641 in charitable disbursements — a consistent upward trend since FY2019 when grants totaled $527,500. Total assets have grown from $8.8M (FY2019) to $21.1M (FY2025), driven primarily by ongoing donor contributions that reached $3.45M in FY2024 alone.

Grant size: The foundation's own typical grant data shows a minimum of $2,500, maximum of $80,000, and median of approximately $15,000 across the full tracked portfolio of 153 grants totaling $3,312,500. In FY2024 specifically, the average per-grant was approximately $31,300 (23 grants, $719,500), pulled upward by a handful of large anchor grants. The range in recent years spans from $2,500 trustee-recommended discretionary grants to $130,000 (Southern Vision Alliance, Queer Mobilization Fund — the largest single grant documented in the foundation's public history).

By program area (estimated from grantee purpose data): - General support to core Southern LGBTQ+ organizations: ~55% of total giving - Trans rights, emergency response, and trans justice: ~15% - Sexual liberation / sex worker rights (via Sex Worker Giving Circle, Sex Down South): ~12% - Conference and convening support (Creating Change, Sexual Liberation Collective): ~10% - LGBTQ+ health equity (Health Equity Summits, HEAL Project): ~5% - Trustee-recommended discretionary grants ($2,500-$5,000): ~3%

Geographic distribution (by grant count across 153 tracked grants): - South Carolina: 44 grants (29%) — the dominant state, heavily concentrated in Charleston/Columbia/Spartanburg corridor - North Carolina: 31 grants (20%) - Georgia: 22 grants (14%) — primarily Atlanta-based organizations - New York: 13 grants (9%) - Massachusetts: 14 grants (9%) - California: 12 grants (8%) - DC: 9 grants (6%) - Other (PA, MN, AZ): 8 grants (5%)

Regranting multiplier: A significant share of Freeman giving flows through intermediary vehicles that expand reach. The Third Wave Fund/Proteus Fund Sex Worker Giving Circle received $300,000 across 6 grants; AFFA received $570,000 and uses Freeman funds to run a separate small grants program that seeds dozens of smaller SC/NC/GA organizations. This regranting pattern is a deliberate strategic choice — Freeman views intermediary infrastructure as a force multiplier for its constrained grant budget.

Multi-year trajectory: The foundation has never decreased year-over-year giving since FY2019. At current contribution rates and asset growth, the foundation is on track to distribute $800,000-$1,000,000 annually by 2026-2027.

Freeman Foundation occupies a distinctive niche among LGBTQ+ funders: regional depth (US South), explicit sexual liberation framing, and a trustee-driven invitation model that allows it to fund intersectional work that larger institutional funders cannot easily support.

Freeman is the smallest of this peer set by assets and annual giving, but its geographic and thematic specificity is unmatched. Arcus and Gill both prioritize legal/policy advocacy and larger established organizations; Freeman's median grant ($15,000) and general-support orientation make it accessible to mid-size Southern community organizations that cannot compete for Arcus or Gill funding.

Third Wave Fund is the closest structural parallel: similar asset range, Southern orientation, and intersectional lens that includes sexual liberation and trans justice. The key difference is that Third Wave Fund maintains an open application process with published cycles, while Freeman operates entirely by invitation. Organizations seeking entry into this funding ecosystem often pursue Third Wave Fund first — building a track record there creates the peer-network visibility that Freeman trustees and grantees use to identify prospective new partners.

Pride Foundation serves a different geography (Pacific Northwest) but is a useful benchmark for open-access LGBTQ+ community foundation grantmaking. Its transparent application cycles make it the better entry point for organizations new to LGBTQ+ philanthropic networks.

Freeman Foundation maintains an intentionally low public profile — no website, no press releases, no social media presence. Public intelligence on recent activity is derived entirely from IRS 990-PF filings and third-party grant databases.

FY2025 (most recent filing): Total assets reached $21.1M; charitable disbursements of $781,641; revenue of $2.8M with contributions representing 71.2% of income. This is the first year in which the foundation's assets exceed $20M, crossing a threshold that typically triggers increased payout minimums under IRS private foundation rules.

FY2024 highlights: Southern Vision Alliance received $130,000 for the Queer Mobilization Fund — the largest single grant in the foundation's documented history and a meaningful signal of escalating investment in Southern LGBTQ+ organizing infrastructure. Campaign for Southern Equality received $100,000 for the Southern Equality Fund and the Trans Emergency Care Program, reflecting continued emergency-response orientation as Southern anti-trans legislation intensified.

Asset trajectory: The foundation's assets have grown from $8.8M (FY2019) to $21.1M (FY2025) — a 140% increase in six years — driven by substantial annual contributions from the donor ($3.45M in FY2024, $2.75M in FY2023). This growth strongly suggests that annual grant volume will continue to rise, potentially reaching $800K-$1M by 2026-2027.

Leadership stability: No trustee changes were identified through web research. Weston F. Milliken, Rea Carey, Rye Young, and Ryan Li Dahlstrom remain listed as trustees as of the most recent filing. Zero compensated staff — the foundation operates entirely through trustee decision-making.

No new program announcements, strategy pivots, or external communications were located through web research conducted in June 2026.

Freeman Foundation is a relationship-driven, invitation-based private funder with no public application process. Cold applications are not possible and will not be received. The following tips reflect the structured pathways and relationship-building strategies that meaningfully increase the probability of an invitation.

Pathway 1 — Apply through Alliance for Full Acceptance (AFFA). AFFA administers a small grants program using Freeman Foundation dollars for LGBTQ+ youth-serving organizations in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia, distributing upward of $60,000 annually. This is the only open-access application process connected to Freeman funding. Monitor affa-sc.org for annual application cycles; AFFA's grants typically range from $1,000-$10,000 and serve as a formal introduction to the Freeman ecosystem.

Pathway 2 — Build visibility at Creating Change. The National LGBTQ Task Force's Creating Change Conference — specifically the sexual liberation and trans justice programming tracks — has been consistently funded by Freeman across multiple grant cycles. Attending, presenting, or facilitating workshops positions organizations directly within the trustee networks that drive Freeman invitations. Rea Carey's decade of leadership at the Task Force makes this the single most important convening to prioritize.

Pathway 3 — Attend Sex Down South Conference. Freeman has funded the Sex Down South Conference (via Planned Parenthood of the Southeast) at least five times. This Atlanta-based gathering is the primary Southern convening for sexual liberation work; organizational leaders known within this network are well-positioned for trustee introductions.

Alignment language: Proposals and organizational materials should use language that mirrors the foundation's funded project titles: 'sexual liberation as transformative justice,' 'Southern-rooted organizing,' 'trans-led,' 'intersectional,' 'queer mobilization,' 'emergency response.' Avoid policy-advocacy framing — Freeman's orientation is community-based organizing, not litigation or electoral strategy.

What Freeman looks for: Long-term organizational health (general support), not individual projects. Multi-year track records of Southern LGBTQ+ community work. Leadership that is directly affected — trans-led, LGBTQ-led, youth-led. Existing relationships with current Freeman grantees.

Critical distinctions: This foundation (EIN 52-1667228) is entirely unrelated to the well-known Asia-focused Freeman Foundation (EIN 13-2965090) and the Carl M. Freeman Foundation (Maryland real estate philanthropy). Confusing them in correspondence will immediately signal that an organization has not done its homework.

After receiving an invitation: Prepare concise materials — 3 years of financials, board list, IRS determination letter, and a one-page organizational brief. Do not submit a multi-page project narrative; the foundation's preference for general support means program-level detail is less important than organizational trajectory.