Hi everyone!
We wanted to give you, our applicants and our donors, a small update on how PlanetRomeo Foundation is doing: who is on the PlanetRomeo Foundation team, what have we done the past 2 years and what are we currently working on?
The PlanetRomeo Foundation Team
PlanetRomeo Foundation is a small non-profit fund, run by volunteers. The entire foundation consists of 7 executive board members, who volunteer their time to support LGBTQ+ projects where it’s needed most. Half of our team started last year, the other half this year. In february 2021 three new members joined the board: Monica Bentvelzen as our treasurer, Ronny Haimé as secretary and Jouke van Buuren as a member. In September 2021, Femke van Casteren, now vice-chair, joined. In February 2022 the last three members were added: Jos Koster as our chair, Rogier Seinstra, who handles fundraising, and Henk de Vries of communications. The board is now at full strength and we are incredibly excited to get PlanetRomeo Foundation back on track.
The past 2 years
In 2020 and 2021, PlanetRomeo Foundation ran a COVID Emergency Funding program: any LGBTQ+ organization could apply for a grant of maximum EUR 2.000,- to cover COVID expenses of any kind. We were able to support 28 organizations. We closed for applications on 31 December 2021, and are now wrapping up the last administrative actions to finish up the COVID Emergency Funding program. In March 2022 – May 2022, we ran another Emergency Funding Program, this time for our existing partners in Ukraine. We received 5 urgent applications and we were able to support all 5 organizations with a total of EUR 24.000,-. To everyone who contributed to our crowdfunding: thank you! We also received an extra donation from our financier Romeo B.V.: thank you for immediately taking action so our community could help our LGBTQIA+ communities abroad.
Current Actions
Right now, we are working on a major overhaul of our administration: we want to professionalize, we want to grow our fundraising and we want to support more LGBTQ+ organizations in the many years to come! We understand that our applicants are eager to hand in your funding requests, and we are looking forward to reading them. We hope to open up for regular applications in autumn. We want to thank you for your patience, and thank you for the work you are doing for the international LGBTQ+ community. Your organizations and your work saves lives, and we are honored to be able to help you make a difference.
Keep an eye out on our website and social media to stay updated on PlanetRomeo Foundation.
Queer regards from everyone at PlanetRomeo Foundation:
Jos, Femke, Monica, Ronny, Jouke, Rogier and Henk.
