The National AIDS Fund (NAF)

The National AIDS Fund (NAF)
served as a national organization bringing added credibility and coordination to U.S.
HIV/AIDS philanthropy.27
NAF forged the first national-local partnership in which local foundations, United
Ways, and corporations were encouraged to work in partnership with private
foundations around local HIV/AIDS-related grantmaking. The development of this
unique funding pool enabled local community foundations to become involved more
easily in HIV/AIDS philanthropy than had been the case before. By and large,
community foundations were able to respond more effectively to the unique
community based needs of local populations due to their close proximity to the affected
communities. In addition, community foundations played a key role in supporting
local AIDS service providers, in building community awareness, and in providing
incentive for local government action.28
Although RWJ, the Ford Foundation, and other large foundations had the ability to take
risks in this major new issue early in the epidemic, smaller foundations were slow to
get involved in HIV/AIDS grantmaking due perhaps to the enormity of the issue and
their limited pool of resources.29 In 2002, there were twenty-nine (29) community
partnerships mobilizing resources for HIV/AIDS efforts and bridging efforts between
private and community foundations, corporations, and individuals.30 (See Appendix V
for a complete list of current NAF partner sites with website addresses).
Community-based political pressure for a stronger U.S. government response for AIDS
prevention, care, and research increased significantly after the 1986 licensure of a test
for HIV and growing public awareness about AIDS as an expanding public health
problem. In 1988, the political and public health consensus had shifted enough for the
US Surgeon General’s office to be able to mail information about HIV/AIDS to every
U.S. household.31
In 1990, the federal government passed the Ryan White CARE Act, establishing new
structures to help ensure HIV/AIDS health care access and appropriating designated,
discretionary federal funding for this purpose for the first time. 32 By the late 1990’s,
most HIV/AIDS funding in the United States came from Federal health programs of
Medicaid, Medicare, and the Ryan White CARE Act (See Appendix VI for detailed
information of federal funding for HIV/AIDS). With an $11 billion dollar budget for
HIV/AIDS in fiscal year 2000 (both discretionary and entitlement spending combined),
the federal government has now assumed the major responsibility for caring for those