the state of HIV/AIDS grantmaking, A

Research on health grantmaking is critical in assessing the state of HIV/AIDS
grantmaking, as it is often the umbrella category under which HIV/AIDS programs are
subsumed. Tracking health grantmaking trends can be indicative of how much funding
is allocated to HIV/AIDS programs. Current research shows that foundations by and
large are discontinuing their AIDS funding categories in favor of broader, more
comprehensive funding categories such as health.
The following findings come from the Foundation Center’s Foundation Giving Trends
2002 Edition, unless otherwise noted.Domestic rather than international HIV/AIDS funding remains the primary focus of
U.S. philanthropic funding. More than 8 out of 10 HIV/AIDS grant dollars from U.S.
foundations go to domestic U.S. programs and efforts.
• International giving by U.S. foundations increased from 12% in 1999 to 16.3% in
2000 of the total grantmaking. Yet, of the U.S. foundation grants to “international
AIDS” efforts, 89.2% of funding is granted to organizations based inside the U.S. for
distribution or programming abroad.
• In 2000, foundations gave $901 million to overseas recipients. This represents a
109% increase from 1999.
• The largest ten international HIV/AIDS funders account for more than three-fifths of
support in the field.
• Starting in 1987, the Ford Foundation, Public Welfare Foundation, and the
Rockefeller Foundation led the international U.S. philanthropy response to the
global HIV/AIDS epidemic।
This dramatic increase in AIDS grantmaking demonstrates a necessary and important
enhancement in philanthropic leadership on HIV/AIDS at a time when it is desperately
needed. In light of FCAA’s campaign to remobilize, diversify and deepen the
philanthropic response to AIDS, FCAA is encouraged by this turn of events.
Despite these positive trends in AIDS grantmaking by U.S. foundations and
corporations as of 2000, much more remains to be done by all sectors of society,
including philanthropy, to fully address the tremendous challenges, domestically and
globally, created by this pandemic.
The battle against HIV/AIDS is not over, despite advances in research on treatments
against HIV and its associated opportunistic infections, and despite resulting prolonged
life expectancies for people with AIDS living in wealthy countries. The needs and
programming costs created by HIV/AIDS continue to far outweigh the level of support
from both public and private organizations.
Overall, private foundations and corporate funders have played a critical role in
furthering the response to HIV/AIDS. Foundations helped to fill the critical gap in
HIV/AIDS funding until the U.S. government and then other governments and
multilateral organizations allocated desperately needed resources to help alleviate the
devastating effects of the pandemic. Ultimately, private foundations in the U.S. and
internationally have helped to create some templates for government HIV/AIDS
funding.
The issue moving forward is how to continue and expand this level of funding and
engage grantmakers to maintain long-term support for HIV/AIDS until progress against
the disease itself – not donor fatigue or other ‘artificial’ factors – justifies any lessening
of funding. These challenges are greater now that economic conditions have created
many financial challenges for grantmakers trying to simply maintain funding levels of
recent years. One thing is crystal clear -- the need to keep private philanthropy
involved in creative and strategic HIV grantmaking remains imperative if the domestic
and international fight against HIV/AIDS is to be won.