The State Equality Fund (SEF) has announced its new guidelines for 2014 and issued an invitation for letters of inquiry (LOI).

For the past eight years, Federation members have used support from SEF to make huge policy advances that improve the lives of LGBT people in their state. And at the Federation, we're eager to help even more of our state groups take advantage of this critical funding stream.

For 2014, SEF funders have chosen to include incremental and local outcomes as a funding area, in addition to statewide policy work. This change in approach is a direct result of your feedback and the Federation's advocacy!

Now, organizations that are working on enumerated district-level safe schools policies or incremental nondiscrimination protections -- including executive orders, state/city employee policies, or gender marker changes -- may be eligible to apply.

The SEF strongly encourages Federation members to request assistance from the Federation on the LOI and subsequent application. And here's why: we've noticed that groups we work with on these plans almost always get funded, and those that don't often don't.

Wondering if you're eligible to apply? Want to request help from a Federation staffer for your application? Interested in building a fundraising plan for the future? Let us know -- just click here, fill out the form, and we'll be right back in touch.

Don't delay reaching out to us. The deadline for submitting your LOI for SEF's Cycle 1 is September 16, 2013. The sooner we hear from you, the more we can help.