OUt Together! 2026

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MSPA is excited to announce our 2026 OUT Together donation drive and fundraising competition! Your support helps LGBTQ+ premed and medical students thrive.

Help us upgrade the future of LGBTQ+ medicine - donate today!

 
 

Want to support LGBTQIA+ medical students and help them succeed?

We’re asking for your help to keep LGBTQIA+ students connected, supported, and pursuing their dreams in healthcare. Let’s keep the future of LGBTQIA+ healthcare professionals OUT Together!

The Medical Student Pride Alliance (MSPA) is a national organization dedicated to education and advocacy around LGBTQ+ issues in healthcare, while providing LGBTQ+ identifying medical students with a space to unite, connect, and collaborate. OUT Together is an annual fundraising event to help us support LGBTQIA+ medical and premedical students succeed throughout their education and careers.

This year, the OUT Together! Fundraiser will take place from October 11–31.

 

Your donation directly supports LGBTQIA+ medical students by:

  1. Funding Individual and Chapter Grants: Providing monetary awards to MSPA chapters and students, including our Chapter of the Year award, awards for top presenters of LGBTQIA+ scholarly work at our Research Day, and other opportunities throughout the year.

  2. Supporting Advocacy Initiatives: Funding allows MSPA to develop and expand initiatives that advance our mission and address the needs of LGBTQIA+ students in healthcare, including our Street Medicine Series and annual Match Day panels.

  3. Creating Community: Supporting social events and chapter activities that help LGBTQIA+ medical students build community and find welcoming, affirming spaces both locally and nationally through online programming.

  4. Supporting the FARMS Database: Maintaining a resource where students can search for equitable and affirming away rotations and residency programs across medical specialties, with a focus on supporting students who are underrepresented in medicine.

Why Donate?

Here’s what our leaders say MSPA has done for them

 

“MSPA offered me an avenue through which to turn my feelings about the world into actionable ways of improving it.”

~Afton Widdershins | Executive Director

“MSPA gave me the opportunity to see a career for myself as a transgender physician through mentorship, advocacy training, and an invaluable peer network!”

~Austen Ott | Former Executive Director

 

"MSPA gave me real experience with organizational and leadership skills that I never would have learned in medical school alone.”

~Fae Nova | Former Executive Director, Director of Financial Affairs

“Especially living in a state where I have to fight daily threats to the lives of queer people in my community, MSPA has given me a goal of something to focus on and stay hopeful for the future."

~Delia Sosa | Former Executive Director

 

“For me, MSPA has been an opportunity to connect with passionate queer students and faculty from across the country who are equally committed to LGBTQIA+ health and justice. I’ve met incredible people who inspire me and give me confidence that our generation of physicians will continue to advocate for change and justice for our community.”

~Caroline Virone | Director of Financial Affairs

“MSPA has connected me with an incredible community of queer medical students nationwide. It’s where I’ve grown as a leader and found the space to advance LGBT health.”

~Ajay Pandey | Director of Research and Analytics

Fundraising challenge

This year, for the first time, we are introducing a fundraising challenge to support and give back to our local MSPA chapters!

All MSPA chapters and registered affiliates are invited to encourage donations to the OUT Together Fundraiser in support of their chapter. The chapter with the highest eligible donation total will receive a Chapter Development Grant equal to 5% of its fundraising total, up to $500.

Plus, the winning chapter will be featured in a collaborative post on the official MSPA Instagram!

Everyone is encouraged to participate in OUT Together, whether or not they are affiliated with an MSPA chapter. Donors may choose to support a specific chapter, or they may make an individual donation without selecting a chapter. Only donations designated to an eligible chapter will count toward the chapter fundraising challenge.

The Chapter Development Grant will be awarded to the winning chapter and distributed through the chapter’s affiliated school or institution for approved chapter development activities.

See below for competition guidelines, eligibility requirements, fundraising instructions, and prize details.

    • All active MSPA chapters in good standing are eligible to participate.

    • Each chapter will compete as a single fundraising entity. Individual fundraisers will not compete separately.

    • Participation is voluntary.

    • The competition begins at 12:00 AM EST on October 11 and ends at 11:59 PM EST on October 31.

    • Only eligible funds received by MSPA during this period will count toward a chapter's total.

    • Funds received before or after the competition period will not count.

  • A contribution counts toward a chapter's total only if:

    1. It is a monetary donation to MSPA;

    2. It is received during the competition period; and

    3. It can be directly and reasonably attributed to the participating chapter by selecting the chapter on the official donation page.

    Donations made through the official OUT Together fundraising platform will be attributed according to the chapter designation selected by the donor.

  • The following do not count toward a chapter's fundraising total:

    • Donations received outside the competition period

    • In-kind donations, goods, or services

    • Donations made to another organization

    • Funds raised through an unapproved fundraising activity

    • Funds that cannot be verified or attributed to a specific chapter

    • Funds that are refunded, reversed, charged back, or otherwise not ultimately received by MSPA

    MSPA may exclude any contribution that does not meet these requirements.

  • Chapters may promote OUT Together and solicit donations through their own networks, social media, events, and other appropriate channels.

    Chapters are responsible for ensuring that their fundraising activities:

    • Comply with MSPA policies and applicable institutional policies

    • Accurately represent MSPA and the OUT Together campaign

    • Do not make misleading claims about the use or tax-deductible nature of donations

    • Do not involve coercion, discrimination, harassment, or other inappropriate conduct

    MSPA may require a chapter to discontinue a fundraising activity that does not comply with these standards.

  • MSPA will maintain the official fundraising records for the competition.

    Chapter totals may be displayed on a public or internal leaderboard during the competition. Interim totals are unofficial and may change following verification.

    After the competition closes, MSPA will verify all eligible contributions and establish the final chapter standings.

    MSPA's verified records constitute the official fundraising totals.

  • The participating chapter with the highest verified eligible fundraising total at the end of the competition period will be declared the winner.

    In the event of a tie, the winner will be the chapter that first reached the tied final fundraised amount.

OUT Together! will take place from October 11 - 31, 2026

Unless otherwise designated, contributions made during OUT Together will support the initiatives outlined above, including student and chapter grants, awards, educational and advocacy programming, community-building activities, and MSPA operational costs.