Compared with the pace of change of other social movements, the LGBTQ movement's success in achieving marriage equality occurred quickly. And in reaction, energized by this significant policy victory, many individual donors have asked themselves, "How can we hasten the achievements of other social movements?" That's a difficult question to address in any case, but for individual donors who don't have the research capabilities and grant-making staff of large foundations, it can be particularly daunting.

One of the biggest reasons why that's so is the lack of immediate tangible impact in building or encouraging a movement; the work is risky and may not yield results for a long time. The marriage equality movement is a good example. While it might seem to some that success came overnight, the fact is that transforming marriage equality from a fringe issue into the law of the land took decades and relied on the leadership of committed activists as well as on donors who were willing to support the issue over the long-term and knew that such an outlook was critical...