Advice for Nonprofit Employers Seeking to Include Gay Employees

Following are suggestions on how charities can make themselves more inclusive of gay men and lesbians, based on interviews with charity officials and other experts:

Put the group’s antidiscrimination policy front and center. Make sure it includes sexual orientation and gender identity. For gay and transgender workers, “that’s the floor. That says, ‘You’ll be safe,’” says Richard Friend, a diversity trainer in Chicago who works with nonprofit clients. Post the policy on the organization’s Web site, where job seekers can find it easily — and anonymously.

But be prepared to back up those words with action, says Eric Peterson, manager of diversity initiatives at the Society of Human Resource Management, in Alexandria, Va. “If you have someone on your staff who is maybe the greatest manager you ever had, but very homophobic, you’re going to have to do something about that,” says Mr. Peterson.

Offer domestic-partnership health benefits. “For some people, having domestic-partner benefits is lifesaving,” says Brian McNaught, a diversity trainer in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Provincetown, Mass., who focuses on sexuality issues. “You simply can’t afford to stay at a place that doesn’t provide you with benefits for your significant other.”

And even for those gay employees who don’t use them, having the option of partner benefits is the mark of a fair workplace. “It’s equal pay for equal work,” Mr. McNaught says. “If you’re providing this benefit as an incentive to my heterosexual colleagues, then you should be providing me with the same benefit.”

Also consider including domestic partners in other benefits beyond medical insurance. For example, asks Lynn Bolton, a lesbian who works as a fund raiser at the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, in Oakland, Calif., does the organization’s bereavement policy cover employees who need time off to grieve for a deceased partner, as well as a husband or wife?

Tell the Human Rights Campaign about inclusive policies. Employers who notify the Human Rights Campaign, an advocacy group in Washington, about their gay-friendly employment policies will be included in the group’s employer database. The database currently includes colleges, universities, and large charities such as the American Red Cross, Feeding America (formerly America’s Second Harvest) , the Girl Scouts of the USA, and Mercy Corps, as well as government and for-profit employers.

“If I were looking for a job, I would go to the HRC Web site,” says Joseph Tapp, development director at Chrysalis, a charity in Phoenix that serves domestic-violence victims — and one that includes protections for gay employees like him in its antidiscrimination policy. Go to: http://www.hrc.org/issues/workplace/10842.htm

Pay attention to words, images, and programs. Institutionally speaking, does the organization assume that its workers, its volunteers, and the people it serves are straight? “Use language that’s really inclusive,” advises Ms. Bolton. “How do we talk about partners, even on employee forms? Do forms offer the choice of partner versus spouse?”

Key in to what Mr. Friend calls “the artifacts of culture, the subtle stuff.” For example, he says, in a communal space, such as a lobby or a waiting area, pay attention to the magazines on the coffee table, the books lining the shelves.

Charles Jensen, a gay man hired this summer to lead the nonprofit Writer’s Center, in Bethesda, Md., says he was reassured when, before his interview with the arts group, he noticed the local gay newspaper among the publications stacked in his prospective employer’s lobby.

That attention to inclusion should trickle down to a charity’s programs and how those programs are pitched to volunteers and potential clients.

“If they’re serving youth, do they recognize that there’s [lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender] youth out there?” asks Mr. Friend. “If they’re serving elders, do their programs identify the needs of LGBT elders?”

Show how a group’s mission affects gay people. For example, the American Cancer Society produces educational material aimed at gay men and lesbians.

Efforts by a charity to showcase its cause in such a direct manner, suggests Mr. Tapp, “might make someone want to contribute financially or go to work for them.”