Fund Programs that Support One or More of the Three Principal Goals of the NHAS

Featuring: AIDS Foundation of Chicago, Elton John AIDS Foundation, ViiV Healthcare and the Washington AIDS Partnership.

• AIDS Foundation of Chicago’s new grantmaking priorities will be implemented in December 2011.  The new strategy of fewer but larger grants (minimum $20,000) will focus funding on priority issues identified by the NHAS including:
  
  *Gay men and other men who have sex with men, injection drug users, communities of color, women and girls, and individuals and families affected by incarceration
  
  *Program coordination
  
  *Increased investment in key community organizations, encouraging strategic alliances, and maximizing funding resources

• Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) has been a leading voice in the endorsement of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy and its use in supporting a more robust domestic U.S. response on HIV/AIDS.  In 2011, EJAF began tracking their applicants’ relationship to the National HIV/AIDS Strategy.
  
  According to EJAF, “Initial results during 2011 show some clear patterns: in a recent grant application round, two-thirds of EJAF grant applicants reported having some partnership with government around HIV testing and referrals to HIV care, but only one-third reported having some partnership with government around retention of people in HIV care, housing of people living with HIV, or ensuring an increase in people living with HIV who have an undetectable viral load.  These results are helping EJAF to understand the types of organizations that are seeking EJAF grants and also the potential ways that its charitable funding might intersect with and reinforce HIV programming supported by Federal, State, and local governments.”
  
  In EJAF's 2011 application, applicants were asked if their programs aimed to do any of the following:
  
  * lower HIV infection rates (incidence) by 25% by 2015
  
  * increase the proportion of people living with HIV who know their serostatus to 90%
  
  * increase the proportion of patients newly diagnosed with HIV linked to care within 3 months to 80%
  
  * increase the fraction of Ryan White Program clients who have at least 2 routine HIV medical visits per year (where the visits are at least 90 days apart) to 80%
  
  * increase the proportion of Ryan White program clients who have permanent housing to 86%
  
  * increase by 20% the proportion of gay and bisexual men living with HIV who have undetectable viral loads
  
  * increase by 20% the proportion of Black and Latino people living with HIV who have undetectable viral loads.

• In May 2012 Kaiser Permanente - the second largest provider of HIV care in the United States -  announced a new HIV grant strategy and RFP focused on supporting nonprofit organizations to prevent new HIV infections, identify HIV+ patients sooner and get them into high quality HIV care sooner and remain in such care.

  Issued through the Kaiser Permanente Program Offices Donor Advised Fund at the East Bay Community Foundation, the strategy will provide eight 2-year grants of $250,000, four to be awarded in 2012 and four more in 2013 – for a total of $2 million, with up to an additional $500,000 for evaluation. The RFP will be open to any agencies whose work aligns with the two focus areas of Kaiser Permanente HIV Grants Program, which also aligns with the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, including: reducing new infections and increasing HIV care utilization.

  Download the RFP today, or access online.

• ViiV Healthcare launched the Positive Action US Southern Initiative “… a collaborative, community-focused program designed to address gaps in services or programs that support linkages to care and treatment adherence among the region’s most vulnerable communities, including African-Americans and Latinos living with HIV/AIDS.  The Positive Action Southern Initiative is a community based effort which reflects the priorities of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy and supports innovative community organizations addressing disparities in HIV.” – Michael N. Joyner, Director, ViiV Healthcare’s Positive Action program.
  

• In reviewing how to best align its funding with the NHAS, Washington AIDS Partnership found that much of what they do is already aligned including their focus on:
  
  * Targeting prevention to high risk populations, and evidence-based approaches
  
  * Advancing public policy on systemic issues in the local HIV/AIDS system of prevention, testing, and care
  
  * Addressing barriers to HIV medical care for HIV+ African American women and others living in the poorest neighborhoods of Washington, DC through “Positive Pathways,” a new initiative supported by an AIDS United Social Innovation Fund grant and local funding.  Positive Pathways also serves as a workforce development initiative, employing peers as community health workers to identify out-of-care HIV+ individuals and help them access and navigate the health care system.
  
  Language from a recent Washington AIDS Partnership RFP includes: “What kinds of proposals are being sought?  - WAP encourages proposals that do one or more of the following: Align with the U.S. National HIV/AIDS Strategy, including such priorities as reducing HIV disparities and new infections by targeting prevention for communities where HIV is concentrated such as high-risk populations and geographic areas, and through effective, evidence-based approaches."

Fund Advocacy

Featuring: AIDS Foundation of Chicago, AIDS United, The AIDS Institute and Washington AIDS Partnership

• National Coalition
  The origins of the NHAS offers an excellent example of how a relatively small but strategic investment can result in significant change.   

• Regional Coalition
  AIDS Foundation of Chicago launched the Midwest AIDS Policy Alliance.  It currently has 15 partner organizations in 12 states.  

• Statewide Coalition
  In 2011, AIDS United funded Strengthening Advocacy Capacity in the State of Alabama AIDS Birmingham a project of AIDS Alabama.  The program’s primary goal is to “strengthen advocacy capacity in the state of Alabama for the purpose of addressing important HIV/AIDS issues.”
  
  The Florida HIV/AIDS Advocacy Network (FHAAN), a project of The AIDS Institute, “…is a statewide effort comprised of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA’s), community advocates, HIV/AIDS and industry professionals, and anyone wanting to be involved to coordinate HIV advocacy efforts for all Floridians living with HIV and AIDS.” 

• Local Coalition
  The Syringe Access Working Group in Washington DC is a public/private partnership of government agencies, private philanthropy and needle exchange providers.  The Group is chaired by J. Channing Wickham, Executive Director of the Washington AIDS Partnership.  It aligns with the NHAS “by significantly reducing HIV incidents among IDUs.”  The project has no website but funders are encouraged to Contact Mr. Wickham for more information.

Build Capacity of Agencies and Individuals with Demonstrated Impact

Featuring: AMEX, Center for Development and Population Activities, Funders Network on Population, Reproductive Health and Rights, Johnson & Johnson, M.A.C AIDS Fund, Merck, and the Health Foundation of Greater Indianapolis, Inc.

• With funding from AMEX, The National Council for Research on Women's Emerging Leaders Network Program “supports entry to mid-level professionals in their efforts to develop leadership skills and build partnerships.” 

• Internationally, Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation offers a range of non-cash capacity building support through its SECURE THE FUTURE Technical Assistance Program. 

• The Advancing Women Leadership initiative launched in 2011 with a consortium led by the Center for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA) will “provide women leaders, including women living with HIV, with training sessions to hone leadership and advocacy skills, exchange best practices and learn about innovative responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.” 

• The Funders Network on Population Reproductive Health and Rights offers a donor’s guide to Investing in Youth from their Donor Group on Adolescent Reproductive Health and Development that details “Why donors should invest in young people in relation to their sexual and reproductive health, and how they can make a considerable impact.” 

• Johnson & Johnson offers a Health Care Executive Programin partnership with UCLA Anderson School of Management “exclusively for executive directors and leaders of community-based health care organizations.” 

• In 2007, the  M·A·C AIDS Fund Leadership Initiative was launched in collaboration with Columbia University and UCLA “In response to the critical need to catalyze and support emerging leadership in HIV/AIDS prevention in countries hard hit by the epidemic…”

• In August 2010 the Black AIDS Institute, with support from Merck, launched the Black Treatment Advocates Network (BTAN). BTAN, the only collaboration of its kind, “will train and mobilize a team of treatment advocates with a mission of linking Black Americans with HIV into care and treatment, strengthening local and national leadership, and advocating for policy change and research priorities.”
• The Health Foundation of Greater Indianapolis, Inc., supports an emergency department HIV testing program at Wishard Health Services - a County hospital serving the largest County in the state. The Foundation supports this special program by funding its primary HIV counselor/testor through its AIDS United AmeriCorps program, allowing Wishard to utilize a nearly full-time employee for only $3,800 a year. 

Fund Research that Helps Advance the Goals of the NHAS

Featuring: M.A.C AIDS Fund and the AIDS Funding Collaborative of Ohio

• In 2010 as part of its special initiative focused on young MSM of color, M.A.C AIDS Fund awarded a grant to Emory University to support an adaptation of a couples HIVcounseling and testing (CVCT) for male couples, developed in response to the rising rates of HIV infection among MSM in the U.S.

• The AIDS Funding Collaborative of Ohio commissioned an evaluation of the “K-12 Responsible Sexual Behavior Initiative in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) for the 2009-2010 school year” in order to establish the curriculum as an evidence-based intervention, and thus, making it scalable to a national level.

Assist Grantees in Navigating Sea Changes in the Field

Featuring: AIDS United, Gill Foundation, Housing Works and Open Hand.

• The merger of AIDS Action/National AIDS Fund to create AIDS United is a recent example of resources pooled for greater impact. 

• The Gill Foundation funded the Association of Nutrition Services Agencies to capture the best practices of mission expansion in “New Horizons: Expanding Missions to Build Stronger Futures”  after many agencies in the field of AIDS nutrition expanded their missions to serve clients with other critical and chronic diseases.

• In 2010 Housing Works' entrepreneurial mix of thrift stores, book stores, cafes, and catering raised over $17 Million.

• Open Hand in Atlanta Georgia, leveraged its core expertise in nutrition and chronic disease to create Good Measure, a for-profit arm that in 2009 contributed more nearly 30% of the agency’s $10 Million budget.

Convene and Engage Other Funders

Featuring: The Funders Network on Population, Reproductive Health and Rights, Catalyst Fund, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, and Grantmakers for Effective Organizations.

• Since 1998 the Funders Network on Population, Reproductive Health and Rights has convened more than forty members and covered a wide range of issues including HIV/AIDS.  Review  their “Growing the Reproductive Justice Movement: A Toolkit for Funders” which provides a case study for increased impact through collaborative funding. 

• Read a brochure from the Tides Foundation about the Catalyst Fund, “A collaborative fund that brings together like-minded funders to amplify their impact on the movement for reproductive justice.”

• Read a Council on Foundations blog about the impact of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation’s convening of “…100 nonprofit leaders and board members, county government representatives, staff of elected officials, donors, and corporate fundholders to help develop a shared public policy and advocacy agenda for food and shelter issues in Silicon Valley.”

• Grantmakers for Effective Organizations and the Monitor Institute have created Catalyzing Networks for Social Change: A Funder's Guide which “explores what it takes for grantmakers to cultivate a network mindset, and offers recommendations for how funders can effectively build the capacity of networks and share what they’re learning with the broader field."

Public-Private Partnerships

Featuring: AIDS United, Get Screened Oakland, Get Yourself Tested Campaign, Greater Than AIDS, and the Syringe Access Working Group

• In July 2010, AIDS United was awarded a $3.6 million Social Innovation Fund (SIF) grant to expand its Access to Care (A2C) initiative “to ensure that PLWHA have access to primary medical care and HIV-specific care, improve individual health outcomes for PLWHA, and strengthen local services systems.”  The AIDS United focus on Access to Care (A2C), supports one of the three principal goals of the NHAS. 

  The game-changing SIF requirement that “each federal dollar granted be matched 1:1 by the grantees and again by their sub-grantees with money from private and other non-federal sources”, has created an opportunity to bring new public and private financial resources to the field of AIDS - the first such opportunity in many years and, possibly, the last opportunity of such scale for the foreseeable future.

  Read more about the Social Innovation Fund and AIDS United's A2C Initiative in the NHAS 101

• Get Screened Oakland (GSO) is an innovative private-public partnership focused on ensuring that all residents know their status and can be directed to care where necessary.  It is a model for how many small nonprofits with culturally appropriate and population-specific programs can come together with government and use their unique access to contribute to a large-scale endeavor.   GSO offers a franchise that can be replicated in other cities.  Read about the recent FCAA Spotlight: State Budget Cuts that featured a funder discussion of GSO. 

•  GYT: Get Yourself Tested Campaign is a national campaign supported by MTV, the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and others.

• Greater Than AIDS (GTA) is a national initiative with partners that include the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, over 20 corporate and foundation partners, multiple state and local governments, and ASOs.  

• The Syringe Access Working Group in Washington DC is a public/private partnership of government agencies, private philanthropy and needle exchange providers.  The Group is chaired by J. Channing Wickham, Executive Director of the Washington AIDS Partnership.  It aligns with the NHAS “by significantly reducing HIV incidents among IDUs.”  ContactMr. Wickham for more information.

• The Council on Foundations’ Public-Philanthropic Partnership Initiative brings together government and philanthropy in new cross-sector partnerships to address chronic and severe issues facing our nation.  Review the Public-Philanthropic Partnership website for news, events, resources, and best practices on leveraging the work of the public and philanthropic sectors.

• The Annie E. Casey Foundation funded a new effort among the city of Baltimore's health care leaders to create a new plan "to cut new cases of HIV infection by 25 percent by 2015, as part of an overall strategy to cope with a disease that has plagued the city for decades." Baltimore is one of the CDC's "12 Cities"