Stand up Straight: Use your Friendfactor to help your Friends win Gay Rights, faster.

Friendfactor has pivoted a number of times as we learn the real needs and gaps in the LGBT rights movement. We were at first a social network, but found that gay people would not ask for help because they didn't feel particularly unequal most days. Even during crucial legislative campaigns, it was hard to get people involved without something imminently at stake. Our Friend-setter tool capitalizes on the urgency of a campaign with real rights at stake, and we are working to tell more stories to show how inequality hurts LGBT Americans and their families every day. We are also positioning our brand to overcome the hurdle of straight people not becoming involved for fear of appearing gay; we will become synonymous with the idea that these are everyone's issues, not gay issues.

As technology becomes a bigger force in our lives and we are bombarded with ever-increasing amounts of media, our culture becomes more and more desensitized to humanitarian and civil rights issues. Our cause has the advantage of always being able to maintain credibility because it hinges on relationships with friends. Whatever the medium or culture shift, we can adapt the tools so that the power to make change still lies in the hands of people with a stake in the health and well-being of an LGBT loved one.

After our victory with the Friend-setter tool and strategy in New York, we have been approached by a number of different organizations advocating for causes outside of LGBT rights. Although it seems clear to us that this methodology has and will gain traction in gay rights battles, we would consider expanding our focus to other causes where caring about a person rather than a political position makes our tool powerful in advocacy. Furthermore, should our attempts to customize the Friend-setter tool to be effective in referendums (as opposed to its current iteration as a call tool for legislative measures), we would reconsider the pressure points at which we can make a difference for gay rights in this country and continue iterating on the tool to make it effective at those junctures.

The majority of our funding currently comes from high net-worth individuals and Foundations. Among the former are Ken Mehlman, former chair of the RNC, Norman Lear, and celebrity supporters including Kristen Bell, Marc Conseulos, and Andy Cohen. Contributing foundations include Schusterman, Arcus, Calamus, and New Media Ventures. We are continually building relationships with potential donors through fundraising and campaign-launch events, and networking with the help of our board. We are also seeking support from new foundations, and will be sending out several LOIs in the coming months. We were just accepted as part of the Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation's portfolio, which we expect to bring us further opportunities for growth.

Most of our partnerships consist of the foundation relationships listed above. We also receive pro-bono services from Landor (branding), Ropes and Gray (legal), and The JAR Group (social media). We are working toward partnerships with private companies to develop programs for their employees, for example an engagement program for National Coming Out Day; these partnerships are still in the exploratory stage, however.

Our current staff consists of 5 full-time employees -- 4 programming staff and one computer programmer. To further develop the Friend-setter tool, we would certainly benefit from more tech staff, whether volunteer or paid. Additionally, our marketing and press efforts would benefit from increased organizational capacity to organize coordinated campaign launches. Finally, our blog and social media presence would benefit with greater input (again, either volunteer or staff).

Our company blog has an increasingly substantial readership, and we would love to use it to tell the stories of other organizations working toward equal rights, or individuals who showcase the power of friends helping friends. In terms of our needs, our challenge is making first contact with both funders and potential "constituents" -- once straight people know about us, we can form good relationships and provide value, but getting their eyes in the first place is key. We are also interested in volunteer programming and tech help, and would love to build our community outreach strategy with the help of additional bloggers or other social media experts.