Illusion of Steadiness Belies Worrisome Fluctuations in HIV-related Philanthropy

Report offers the first examination of HIV-related philanthropy’s
response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  

 

Funders Concerned About AIDS (FCAA) today released its 19^th annual Philanthropic Support to Address HIV and AIDS report. This year’s analysis shows that total HIV-related philanthropy in 2020 reached $707 million, representing an essentially flat, 1% increase from 2019. Looking a little deeper, the data reveals a dangerous reliance on a shrinking pool of funders. 

Out of the 323 funders analyzed in the report, the top 20 account for 92% of the year’s total. Furthermore, the vast majority of funding (67%) came from the top two funders alone – Gilead Sciences, Inc. and The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In fact, as a result of disbursement schedules – as opposed to sustained giving – a $116 million increase by Gilead ensured its spot as the No. 1 funder in 2020, marking the first time in 20 years that The Gates Foundation is not in that position. Gilead’s increase only served to balance out the absence of another funder’s one-time $100 million disbursement, which was tracked in the 2019 report. In addition, 13 of the top 20 funding organization’s reported decreased giving in 2020, and other longstanding private foundations exited the space and/or significantly reduced spending on HIV.

“The concentration of funding at the top is not a new headline, but it became starker in 2020,” said Channing Wickham, FCAA’s Board Chair. “This is an enormous concern for the stability of HIV-related philanthropy. A shift in resources away from HIV, or other action with economic fallout from one of these top grant makers could devastate future funding levels.”

The report analyzes calendar year 2020 grantmaking that took place during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing racial tensions following the murder of George Floyd in the U.S. While it’s too soon to predict how these events, as well as the current war in Ukraine, will further impact HIV-related private funding, we do know they are compounding an already unstable environment.