AIDS Grant Making Grows

Thanks to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, American foundation support for HIV/AIDS-related causes grew 11 percent last year, to $618-million, says a new report.

But when the Gates organization is excluded, foundation giving actually declined 3 percent compared to 2007, said Funders Concerned About AIDS, a coalition of grant makers in New York.

In a new report, the coalition is urging foundations to step up their support for HIV/AIDS vaccine research, prevention, and other projects, saying the economic downturn threatens to erode recent gains in fighting the pandemic.

According to a survey of 79 foundations, 42 percent say they expect their AIDS giving to decline in 2008, 38 percent say it will remain steady, and 15 percent expect it to increase.

For the second time, Funders Concerned About AIDS issued its annual study of foundation giving on the same day as its European counterpart, the European HIV/AIDS Funders Group, in Brussels, released a similar report.

Foundations in Britain, Germany, and other Western European countries awarded $134-million to fight HIV/AIDS last year. That represents a 1 percent decline, but most of the grant makers say such giving will increase this year.

The studies say that for both American and European foundations, most of their giving for HIV/AIDS supports charitable efforts in Africa and other parts of the world.