Thank you to all the sponsors, advertisers, donors, bidders and attendees, this year Springfield Black Tie raised over $140,000! This is the amount we cleared past all expenses associated with the banquet itself.
Each year we open up the application process online and invite charities that support the LGBT+ community to apply for grants from the amount that will be raised that year. Each charity submits an application by the deadline and requests an amount along with all supporting documentation showing how funds will impact their efforts. These applications are reviewed by the entire Springfield Black Tie committee. Each committee member assigns a percentage to each charity. Votes are calculated and averaged to ensure fair distribution. Some request are met with full funding, some receive a percentage of the total they were seeking and in some cases a charity receives more than requested. These amounts are unknown until the end of the event and funds are raised.
After the banquet is concluded and the amount raised is finalized, funds are distributed to each of the charities based on the voted percentages. The beneficiaries this year are; APO, The GLO Center, RareBreed, PROMO Fund, FosterAdopt Connect, Men’s Chorus of the Ozarks, MSU Multicultural Partners, Empower Missouri, and PFLAG.
