We’ve all been told that it is better to give than to receive. As the executive director of a community-based nonprofit, I can assure you that’s true. But in order to build and sustain a movement for equality, many people have to give so that we all can receive.

Ric Weiland was a very generous man. A high school friend of Bill Gates and a very early employee of Microsoft, he made generous contributions during his lifetime to Lambda Legal and many other LGBT and HIV organizations.

Ric died in 2006 and, because he made a plan and a commitment to the issues he cared so deeply about, his generosity lives on after him. We are honored by the bequest he made to Lambda Legal — the single biggest gift we have ever received — and inspired by his vision. He left a total of $65 million to 11 groups working for LGBT and HIV civil rights. Over the next eight years, Lambda Legal will receive a total of $11 million from Ric’s estate. With a 2008 budget of just over $12 million, this is a very significant gift to us.

I had the privilege of knowing Ric and meeting with him from time to time. He was a very thoughtful man who knew exactly what he was doing as a philanthropist — he was helping to build and sustain our movement.

He understood what we are up against. The people who hate us have never hesitated to pour money into organizations to oppose our rights. The Alliance Defense Fund, for example, has filed lawsuits or represented the other side in dozens of Lambda Legal cases. Their budget is over $27 million per year. In addition to broad conservative membership support nationwide, the group is heavily funded by the Helen DeVos Foundation (the founder of Amway who also funds the Traditional Values Coalition and Focus on the Family) and the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation (established by a John Birch Society member who was the founder of the Alan-Bradley company).

In other words: There are many people — some very wealthy — fueling these hate groups. And these groups don’t like it when the tables are turned. Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, was fast out of the gate after Ric’s bequest was announced, criticizing the gift as a “financial incentive” to “promote homosexuality” among young people. If he fears we’ll have more resources to protect students from antigay attacks in school, then we’re proud to say he’s right.

Sometimes, in the real world, we need to fight money with money. But there is more than one way to do this. As much as we appreciate significant donors like Ric Weiland, we cannot rely on them alone. We rely on each other — all of us who give what we can, whether it’s big gifts or modest ones, to the many local, state and national groups doing important work. That’s what makes a movement. It’s us.

At Lambda Legal, membership contributions at all levels are key to our ability to do our work — and we are always honored when our members grow with us. For example, Caryn Berman and Laura Cuzzillo of Lincolnwood, Illinois, make annual membership contributions, and they recently took the next step in their commitment to equality. They let us know that they have joined the hundreds of people who have included Lambda Legal as beneficiary in their will. For Caryn and Laura this reflects their strong belief that “we all have a responsibility to each other.”

Giving generates power — not just for the receiver, but also for the person who gives. When we give money, time and expertise, we express our values, take action and align with others who have similar thoughts, beliefs and ideas. By connecting us in common purpose, giving creates community.

Ric Weiland’s gifts to Lambda Legal and to our communities will help all of us expand the work we do. But I knew Ric well enough to know that nothing would make him happier than to see his gift matched or exceeded by the gifts of many others. His legacy to all of us is more than dollars — it’s inspiration and faith in our future work for equality.