Report Finds LGBTQ Community Centers Need Increased Investment as Political Hostility and Budget Constraints Remain

October 14, 2026 - Today, the Movement Advancement Project (MAP) and CenterLink released the 2026 LGBTQ Community Center Survey Report, the 10th biennial survey of LGBTQ community centers across the country. The report, developed with input from community center senior management, LGBTQ funders, and national partner organizations, provides a detailed analysis of participating LGBTQ community centers' programs and services, capacity, and finances, in addition to major challenges and opportunities.

Based on survey responses from 175 participating LGBTQ community centers, the report highlights some of the countless important contributions that centers make to the communities they serve, impacting both LGBTQ and non-LGBTQ people. The analysis shows that across the country, centers are continuing to work to meet the needs of community, often while facing political hostility, budget constraints, and other challenges.

"LGBTQ community centers are critical anchors, often offering lifelines to those who need it most," said Denise Spivak, CEO of CenterLink. "This report not only details the vital role of centers but highlights the urgent need for increased investment and long-term committed support from individual funders, foundations, and state and local governments."

"Since 2008, MAP has been delighted to partner with CenterLink on this important analysis," added Naomi Goldberg, executive director of MAP. "Together, we have helped the LGBTQ movement, allies, and funders better understand how centers positively impact the lives of LGBTQ people and their broader communities-and how that work advances LGBTQ equality."

Key Findings

The report breaks down program priorities, infrastructure, fundraising, and staff, board and volunteer capacity, in addition to major challenges and clear opportunities for support.

Programs and Services

• Participating LGBTQ community centers collectively serve over 29,000 people each week, totaling 1.5 million people per year, with many centers primarily serving people and communities that are historically under-resourced and under-served.
• Centers offer many types of programs to address the diverse needs, experiences, and interests of the people and communities they serve.
• The majority (66%) of LGBTQ community centers directly provide physical health, mental health, and/or anti-violence services or programs. In 2025 alone, centers provided health services to over 92,600 people across 86 centers.
• Almost half of centers (46%) offer computer resources or services to the public. In 2025, computer resources at responding centers were used by over 1,100 people every week, or nearly 59,000 people over the year.
• Nearly all (95%) centers engage in advocacy, public policy, or civic engagement activities, including educating the public about LGBTQ people or LGBTQ issues, working in community-led policy coalitions, and supporting pro-LGBTQ legislation.

Center Capacity

• Overall, 85% of responding centers employ paid staff, providing jobs to 3,110 people across 37 states, DC, and Puerto Rico. However, nearly half (49%) of all LGBTQ community centers remain thinly staffed.
• In just 2025, roughly 17,500 people volunteered over 409,000 hours at participating community centers.
• Nearly nine in ten (83%) responding centers have a dedicated physical space, the majority of which are open at least some evening hours.

Finances

• Centers reported a collective 2026 budget of over $529 million across all centers, or over $346 million excluding one outlier center. However, the financial realities of LGBTQ community centers vary greatly, with 99% of that collective budget belonging to centers with annual budgets of $250,000.
• Government grants are a key source of revenue for LGBTQ community centers. Although over half (58%) of responding LGBTQ community centers currently receive government grants, totaling more than $124 million, centers report significant obstacles to accessing these grants.

Major Challenges and Opportunities

Although centers have shown tremendous responsiveness over the last two years, several ongoing challenges were identified, including:

• The current political climate targeting LGBTQ-and especially transgender and youth-populations pose an ongoing, substantial challenge. Centers continue to name this atmosphere as impacting their work, their safety and security, their staff, the communities they serve, the funding they receive and more.
• The vast majority (76%) of all centers reported that they had experienced anti-LGBTQ threats or harassment, whether online, offline, or both. Numerous centers reported that these threats were driven by anti-LGBTQ rhetoric broadly and targeted their transgender and/or youth related programs and events. Though centers are responding strategically, some of the much-needed increased safety measures require additional funding support.
• Across many areas, centers reported their top obstacles revolved around limited staff capacity and limited finances. These barriers impacted centers' ability to engage in advocacy and civic engagement, provide computer resources, and apply for government grants.

All across this country, there are places where the local LGBTQ community center may be the only place for LGBTQ people, their families, and allies to build community, access affirming and inclusive health care, participate in community social and cultural programs, or even have their basic needs met. Given this unique and important role, CenterLink and MAP recommend that individuals, local governments, and funders and foundations prioritize investing more broadly into the vital work of LGBTQ community centers in efforts to increase centers' programmatic capacity, while also closing the gap between small budget and big budget centers.

The Movement Advancement Project (MAP) provides rigorous research, insight, and analysis that help speed equality and opportunity for all. MAP works to ensure that LGBTQ people and their families can live their lives with dignity, safety, and respect by focusing on three key areas: policy and issue analysis, movement capacity, and effective messaging. MAP's work also covers a broad range of social justice issues that intersect with the LGBTQ movement, including racial justice, economic justice, and healthcare access.

For over 30 years, CenterLink has been at the forefront of empowering LGBTQ community centers. Our mission is clear: to strengthen, support, and connect LGBTQ community centers, enabling them to effectively serve their communities across social, cultural, health, and advocacy areas. We provide essential resources, guidance, and a collective voice to our emerging and established centers.