Pride Month is approaching, but the nonprofit behind New York City’s Pride March says it is coming up short on funds.
Organizers with NYC Pride told Gothamist the group was more than half a million dollars shy of its nearly $3 million fundraising goal despite already scaling back on expenses to account for a recent dip in donations.
The budget for the city’s annual Pride celebrations typically remains relatively stable, but nosedived after roughly a quarter of corporate donors either canceled or significantly reduced their financial support last year. The expense exodus began at the same time that the White House started rolling back both legal and symbolic protections for LGBTQ+ Americans and attacking diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives since President Donald Trump took office for his second term.
It was a significant blow to NYC Pride, which announced a $750,000 budget shortfall last summer after corporate sponsorships declined.
NYC Pride’s new executive director, Im Lynde, said the same problem persists this year and none of the former major corporate sponsors have returned. Nevertheless, Lynde said he remains optimistic NYC Pride will hit its nearly $3.29 million goal this year — or at least gets very close to it.
“I think there was a bit of an alarm when people heard that we lost so much money last year because the threat of New York City Pride shutting down, closing or pausing is very real,” he said. “Can you imagine the very first, the best, the biggest Pride in the world — the queen of all Prides — doesn't have enough funding?”
Lynde said the roughly $3 million price tag covers “almost to the bare minimum” of what’s on NYC Pride’s calendar, which includes PrideFest and Youth Pride. It’s also a long way from last year’s roughly $3.88 million budget, and even further from the $4.1 million budget two years ago.
To help combat the trend of diminishing funds, Lynde said NYC Pride collected sponsorships from some local organizations that provided smaller donations to offset the large chunk of change that disappeared from major corporations. NYC Pride also managed to reduce its expenses by cutting costs, including halving its number of full-time staff over the year to just seven employees.
Lynde said he was looking on the bright side of how the political moment might be influencing Pride’s ability to raise money from more local donors.
“ The need to call back and almost display the joy and the resistance against this administration is kind of what is making us grow,” Lynde said.
NYC Pride attests that the annual celebration brings in more than $150 million to the city.
The official theme for this year’s Pride is “For All of Us” — a reference to activist Marsha P. Johnson. Youth Pride will take place on Saturday, June 27, while Pride Fest and the NYC Pride March will take place on Sunday, June 28.
