Black Tie Dinner Kicks off 40th Annual Fundraising Year
(Featured photo: Brad Pritchett, Terry Loftis, Black Tie Dinner Co-Chairs.)*
Nation’s Largest One Night LGBTQ Fundraiser Announces 2021 Beneficiaries
Black Tie Dinner – the nation’s largest LGBTQ fundraising dinner of its kind – officially announced its 17 beneficiaries and revealed historic 40th logo for 2021 in its digital kickoff experience. These nonprofits, which will share the proceeds from the Black Tie Dinner’s historic 40th annual experience on Saturday, November 13th, are a “diverse, well-rounded group of incredibly hard-working organizations that make a massive, positive impact in our local LGBTQ community,” said Brad Pritchett, 2021 Black Tie Dinner Senior Co-Chair. “Selecting our beneficiaries is one of the most important and tough decisions our Board makes every year, but also the most rewarding because of the amazing work these organizations are doing to serve North Texas.”
Returning local beneficiaries of Black Tie Dinner for 2021 are AIDS Services of Dallas, Big Brother Big Sisters Lone Star, Cathedral of Hope United Church of Christ, Celebration Community Church, Coalition of Aging LGBT, Equality Texas Foundation, Health Education Learning Project, Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund, Legacy Counseling Center, Northaven United Methodist Church, Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas, Promise House, Resource Center, Turtle Creek Chorale, and Uptown Players. Joining the beneficiaries in 2021 is Dallas Hope Charities. Black Tie Dinner’s returning national beneficiary is the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRCF).
In addition to announcing its beneficiaries, Black Tie Dinner officially unveiled its historic 40th logo and launched the return of The Black Tie Ambassador Program, its digital peer-to-peer fundraising campaign. “Due to the success of last year’s Ambassador Program, we decided to extend this year-round giving campaign throughout our 2021 fundraising year”, said Terry Loftis, 2021 Black Tie Dinner Junior Co-Chair. “We are extremely grateful for the support of our Black Tie Dinner friends and allies and this will give us the opportunity to connect with even more community members in 2021 to fundraise for our beneficiaries as we celebrate our historic 40th Dinner”.
The digital Black Tie Kickoff also featured a diverse mix of segments highlighting their mission to educate, empower & entertain – including a historic look back at 39 years of Black Tie Dinner events while spotlighting several historic Oaklawn landmarks. “After 39 years and nearly $26 million dollars raised for our North Texas LGBTQ community and HRCF, it was important for us to reflect on our rich and colorful past while shining a light on cultural landmarks such as the Trans Mural, Legacy of Love monument and recent beautification projects on Cedar Springs,” said Brad Pritchett, 2021 Black Tie Dinner Senior Co-Chair.
Black Tie Dinner’s annual fundraising experience will be held on Saturday, November 13th, 2021. The Board expects high demand this year and encourages individuals and companies to sign up to become a sponsor ASAP. Act now to ensure your involvement with this year’s historic milestone of a year. Park Place Motorcars is also back, once again, providing the raffle winner with their very own 2021 Mercedes-Benz. For more info on how to become a sponsor, buy your raffle ticket, donate an auction and more, visit blacktie.org.
About Black Tie Dinner
Black Tie Dinner is a non-profit organization that raises funds for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) supportive organizations serving North Texas through a premier event of empowerment, education and entertainment in partnership with the community. From its origins as a small fundraising dinner among friends in 1982, Black Tie Dinner has grown into the largest fundraising dinner in the nation for the LGBTQ community. Each year, Black Tie Dinner selects up to 20 non-profit organizations from North Texas as local beneficiaries of its fundraising, as well as the Human Rights Campaign Foundation as its national beneficiary. To date, Black Tie Dinner has distributed nearly $26 million dollars to a wide variety of organizations serving the needs of the LGBTQ community.
The event has headlined local and national celebrities and leaders such as President Biden, Billy Porter, Beto O’Rourke, Matt Bomer, Maya Angelou, Geena Davis, Lily Tomlin, Martin Sheen, Connie Britton, Kim Petras, and Dustin Lance Black. In addition to live entertainment, Black Tie Dinner honors outstanding service to the LGBTQ community with the Elizabeth Birch Equality Award, the Black Tie Dinner Media Award and the Kuchling Humanitarian Award. Recipients have included Debra Messing, Greg Louganis, Elizabeth Birch, Sharon Stone, Judy Shepard, Alan Cumming, Showtime Networks/Robert Greenblatt, Bishop V. Gene Robinson, Cyndi Lauper, Logo Network/Brian Graden, Chely Wright, American Airlines, Terrence McNally, Chaz Bono, JCPenney, Scouting For All founder Zach Wahl, Erich Bergen, and Jessi Cruickshank.
*Courtesy photo.
