Domestic/General HIV/AIDS Philanthropy

Domestic/General HIV/AIDS Philanthropy
These findings have been collected from various philanthropic sources reporting on
HIV/AIDS-related issues. These findings help to paint a current picture of HIV/AIDS
philanthropy, some of the major players, and its evolution over the past several years.59
• According to a new analysis by Funders Concerned About AIDS, estimated
grants from U.S. foundations and corporations for HIV/AIDS issues, domestically
and globally, increased significantly from approximately $76.1 million in 1999
to at least $312.4 million in 2000, representing a stunning increase of over
300%.60 61
• Large portions of the estimated financial increases in the year 2000 for HIV/AIDS
grants (over $178 million, or approximately 57% of the estimated year 2000
total) are due to one funder – the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation -- which
has made an historic commitment to addressing the AIDS pandemic globally.
• A significant percentage of philanthropic support for HIV/AIDS programs comes
from the top 25 AIDS funders – a potential over-reliance on such funders for
AIDS grants and a potential weakness in the broad-based support for HIV/AIDS
giving throughout the field.
• ‘New health’ foundations, created from the conversion of not-for-profit hospitals
or health plans into for-profit entities, are giving substantial money to domestic
HIV/AIDS efforts.62 For example, the California Endowment, a new health
foundation created in 1996, donated $2.75 million dollars to HIV efforts in
2000.63
• The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation are the top AIDS public policy funders.64
• HIV/AIDS grantmaking tends to be sporadic and not necessarily long-standing in
terms of a funding category. Some foundations give only once to HIV/AIDS,
making it difficult to calculate future funding streams. For example, the Starr
Foundation gave approximately $6 million dollars to HIV/AIDS-related research
in 2000, but made no HIV grants in 2001 or 2002.65
• Common areas of emerging funding support include: harm reduction, needle
exchange, health care access, organizational capacity building, and global AIDS
issues. These are areas where private foundations can have a significant impact
as they have more flexibility to fund controversial programs. Political
independence is another advantage that allows for private philanthropy to
venture into uncharted areas critical to the amelioration of HIV/AIDS.66
59 For an updated selected list of HIV/AIDS grants, see the FCAA web site at www.fcaaids.org
60 FCAA, Report on AIDS Grantmaking by U.S. Philanthropy, June 2002.
61 Ibid.
62 Foundation Center, Health Funding Update,