Point of Pride
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
There are many barriers trans people face in receiving affirming support and care, including financial constraints, the inability to be open about their identity due to lack of support or fear for their safety, access to knowledgeable care providers, and more. In a recent survey, nearly one third of transgender respondents said they lacked regular access to health care (NPR, 2017). The U.S. Transgender Survey found that 40 percent of transgender people have attempted suicide in their lifetimes. There is a dramatic reduction in those attempts when people have access to affirmative care. Point of Pride is working to empower transgender people in need through gender-affirming support programs they cannot receive elsewhere that empower them to live more authentically.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Annual Transgender Surgery Fund
Point of Pride’s Annual Transgender Surgery Fund is a scholarship-like program that provides direct financial assistance to trans folks who cannot afford their gender-affirming surgery.
Surgery is a life-changing experience for many trans folks, not only positively affecting our self-confidence and body image, but also our ability to live freely and authentically when out in public, at the workplace, and at school. The Surgery Fund aims to connect as many recipients as possible with the care they urgently need to live authentic lives.
Since the program began, we have received thousands of applications from trans youth and adults in need of help.
As of 2019, Point of Pride has awarded $130,000+ in direct financial assistance.
Free Chest Binder Donation Program
Point of Pride has donated thousands of chest binders to trans youth and adults around the world who otherwise could not afford or safely obtain them.
Access to chest binders is so important for so many reasons – physical health, mental health, affirming our gender identity, our safety when in public. For this reason, when trans folks DON'T have the ability to purchase or safely obtain a binder, it often means the difference between participating fully as themselves out in the world, or staying in.
When surveyed, more than 53% of recipients of our #binder program shared that they "almost always" avoid leaving their home or being in public.
Once they receive a binder, this number drops to just 2%. In fact, 1 in 3 people (~33%) shared that they now "almost never" or "never" avoid being in public.
The gift of a binder allows trans folks to show up in the classroom, the workplace – wherever! – to be their authentic selves more comfortably and safely.
Electrolysis Support Program
The Electrolysis Support Program provides free or greatly discounted permanent hair removal services for trans femme folks who cannot otherwise afford them.
To our knowledge, this scholarship-like program is the first and only of its kind. We accept applications from trans femme people who are in need of permanent hair removal services (electrolysis, laser hair removal, etc.) they cannot otherwise afford or safely obtain.
As of 2019, we have awarded over $14,000 in direct financial assistance and discounted services to trans folks in need.
Free Trans Femme Shapewear Program
Point of Pride provides free femme shapewear (specially-designed compression underwear/gaffs) to any trans femme person who needs one and cannot afford or safely obtain one.
We have donated dozens of pairs of shapewear across the country and around the world to trans youth and adults in need of them.
These garments have a tremendous impact on recipients' ability to live authentically, more comfortable, and better-affirmed in their gender identity and presentation. The very act of receiving the garment is a powerful experience of feeling validated and loved.
Where we work
External reviews
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Average number of service recipients per month
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
LGBTQ people
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
2021–: The shift to higher financial aid award packages results in fewer grants as compared to past years, but more individual impact.
Median grant amount
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
LGBTQ people
Related Program
Annual Transgender Surgery Fund
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
As our financial resources have increased, we've shifted our model to provide more impactful grant awards. By 2024, we anticipate being able to cover between 70-97% of recipients' total surgical fees.
Average grant amount
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
LGBTQ people
Related Program
Annual Transgender Surgery Fund
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Total dollar amount of grants awarded
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
LGBTQ people
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
This metric is the grand total across all financial aid programs: the Annual Trans Surgery Fund, the HRY Access Fund, and the Electrolysis Support Fund.
Number of products distributed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
LGBTQ people
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
This metric is the grand total across both gender-affirming garment programs: Free Chest Binders and Free Femme Shapewear.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Point of Pride aims to assist trans and non-binary people in need of gender-affirming care by providing several programs:
Our Annual Transgender Surgery Fund is a scholarship-like program that provides direct financial assistance to trans folks who cannot afford their gender-affirming surgery. The Surgery Fund aims to connect as many recipients as possible with the care they urgently need to live authentic lives.
Our Free Chest Binder Donation Program provides free chest binders (specially-designed chest compression garments) to any trans person who needs one and cannot afford or safely obtain one. Applicants must identify as transgender (FTM, genderqueer, non-binary, genderfluid, gender non-conforming, and every other non-cis identity within the trans umbrella) and must be unable to obtain a binder because of financial constraints or cannot safely obtain a binder. The binders are free to recipients, including shipping, and we ship internationally. We average 60 new requests for binders every single day.
Our Free Trans Femme Shapewear Program provides free femme shapewear (specially-designed compression underwear/gaffs) to any trans femme person who needs one and cannot afford or safely obtain one. Applicants must identify as transgender (MTF, genderqueer, non-binary, genderfluid, gender non-conforming, and every other non-cis identity assigned male at birth within the trans umbrella) and cannot afford to purchase femme shapewear, or cannot safely obtain femme shapewear.
The Electrolysis Financial Support Program provides free or greatly discounted permanent hair removal services for trans femme folks who cannot otherwise afford them. To our knowledge, this scholarship-like program is the first and only of its kind. We accept applications from trans femme people who are in need of permanent hair removal services (electrolysis, laser hair removal, etc.) they cannot otherwise afford or safely obtain.
Point of Pride provides other community-building support initiatives for trans youth and adults as well, with the goal of fostering and supporting the trans community as members deal with the unique challenges of navigating the world existing outside of the gender binary.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Point of Pride is entirely volunteer operated and relies on independent and larger scale fundraising efforts as well as key partnerships with service and product providers to continue our important work.
We have a volunteer board consisting of diverse voices from within the trans community, as well as volunteers around the globe who assist us in our efforts.
Our fundraising strategies have included:
- individual efforts, such as asking for donations instead of birthday presents
- larger fundraising drives, such as Day of Giving and drives around key days in the LGBTQ community
- event-based fundraising, such as profit share with restaurants during key conferences for the trans community
- awareness fundraising as we promote our surgery fund and electrolysis program
- asking for donations in specific areas to cover the costs of shipping free binders to people in a specific state or county
We also partner with providers to assist in our efforts:
- reduced rates for binders and shapewear
- donations of gently used binders for our program
- reduced rates or donations of in-kind services from service providers such as electrolysis professionals and surgeons
There is a great need for our services. We receive about 60 requests for binders each day, and over 1,000 applications for the surgery funds each application period. Since all money goes directly into the programs we provide, we are only limited by the amount of funding we have to fulfill these requests.
In addition to using the above methods of fundraising, our strategies for growth include:
- increasing awareness of the need and the services we provide
- expanded outreach to service providers and trans-affirming businesses for partnering
- increasing effort on outreach and individual donations as our mailing list expands
- expanding our network of invested volunteers
- sharing the stories of people positively impacted by our programs
- applying to grants
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Point of Pride is truly limited only by our ability to fund the free services we are providing. We have steadily increased our fundraising, but the demand for our services has also increased exponentially.
With each binder and shapewear package we ship and every scholarship we are able to provide, we achieve our mission of supporting trans youth and adults who otherwise lack access through gender-affirming programs that empower them to live more authentically. We will continue to work to increase the number of services we are able to provide using the strategies outlined above to generate more funds.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
To date, we have donated over 11,000 free binders to people in need in 90+ countries around the globe. We have provided 800+ pairs of free shapewear products (tucking gaffs). As of September 2021, we have awarded over $300,000 in financial assistance towards access to life-saving gender-affirming healthcare, including surgery, permanent hair removal, and hormone replacement therapy (HRT).
Moving forward, we hope to increase the number of recipients of funds for each round of our Annual Transgender Surgery Fund and increase the number of recipients of free binders and shapewear while reducing wait times. We are also increasing outreach to underserved populations within the trans community to ensure that transgender people who are veterans, people with disabilities, people of color, indigenous people, and people in rural areas are able to receive services to help them live more authentically.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Point of Pride
Board of directorsas of 11/22/2023
Aydian Dowling
Jeffrey Main
Aydian Dowling
Jeff Main
Robin Vorhees
Liz Byrne
Nic Minard
Meryl Lumba
Chris Mosier
Tyler Rodriguez
Blossom C. Brown
Samantha Filoso
Hannah Graf
Queen Victoria Ortega
Jodie Patterson
Eden Torres
Brian Michael Smith
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Not applicable -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 09/22/2021GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.