Foundation Support of AIDS Organizations Appears to be Waning, Survey Finds

Grant making to AIDS-related projects appears to be on the decline, according to results of a new survey commissioned by Funders Concerned About AIDS, a grant makers’ coalition.

Among the 276 grant makers that responded to the survey, only 128 planned to make AIDS grants this year, compared to 162 who said they made such grants in 1997.

The survey also found that the number of grant makers who provide at least $50,000 in grants annually to AIDS causes is dropping. Sixty-three of the grant makers who were surveyed said they planned to give at least that much this year; 81 of the grant makers said they had given that much in 1997.

Leaders of Funders Concerned About AIDS, a coalition of about 1,500 grant-making institutions, said they were most concerned by the drop in the number of the funds that have given large sums.

“For any issue, as long as new funders are coming along to replace old ones, you could say it’s part of the natural ebb and flow,” said Paul Di Donato, the coalition’s executive director. “But if the stalwarts are moving away and not being replaced, then you have a crisis on your hands.”

The total amount awarded to AIDS projects has also decreased in recent years, the report of the survey results noted. From 1996 to 1997, the most recent years for which data were available, contributions to AIDS prevention, treatment, and research efforts dropped from $37-million to $30-million, according to Foundation Center figures cited in the report.

Among the reasons grant makers said AIDS grants were dropping:

* A shift in strategy. Grant makers said that instead of making grants aimed at alleviating specific diseases they were supporting projects that emphasize broad health concerns and seek to improve the overall health-care system.

* A decrease in the number of proposals submitted by AIDS-related organizations.

* A declining interest in supporting large, well-established AIDS organizations. Several grant makers said they saw those organizations as “less capable of innovation and less responsive to changes in the epidemic,” according to the report.

The report suggested the decline might be attributed to other causes, such as the possibility that grant makers are experiencing “donor fatigue” after nearly two decades of financing efforts to stop the disease. It also noted that grant makers may feel that the battle has been won because of advances in drugs for AIDS patients. Those treatments have helped decrease AIDS-related deaths since 1995, reversing a decade-long trend.

Representatives of AIDS organizations said they were not surprised by the survey’s findings.

Jane Breyer, director of development at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, which provides services to people with the disease, said, “The sad news is that the survey just confirmed what many of us have known for a long time.”

Ms. Breyer acknowledged that AIDS organizations bear some of the responsibility for the declining interest among grant makers, and suggested that they should strive to improve both the quality of their proposals and their efforts to inform grant makers.

But she took issue with the criticism that established organizations like her own are not innovative enough.

For example, she said her organization was trying to stem the spread of AIDS among intravenous-drug users by allowing them to obtain clean hypodermic needles — an approach she called “the single most successful, innovative program.” But, she said, few grant makers have been willing to support needle programs, which are controversial because some think they encourage drug abuse.

Both AIDS activists and grant makers who support AIDS causes said they feared some foundations were retreating at a time when their support is still needed.

“There is an overriding sense that progress is being made, but the new treatments are still far out of the reach of many people,” said Kim Hamilton, of the Howard Gilman Foundation.

Funders Concerned About AIDS spent approximately $80,000 on the survey. The Gallup organization chose participants from a pool of 653 grant makers that had contributed to AIDS organizations or expressed interest in doing so.

Free copies of the report, “Philanthropy and HIV: Assessing the Past, Shaping the Future,” can be obtained from Ging Louie, FCAA, 50 East 42nd Street, 19th Floor, New York 10017; (212) 573-5533; e-mail ging@fcaaids.org.