What Can the International AIDS Conference Do for Philanthropy?
The XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS2012) is only five months away. And funders are asking themselves, what can we do?
Firelight Director Peter Laugharn answered this question at the Funders Concerned About AIDS (FCAA) 2011 Philanthropy Summit in December. FCAA has transcribed the session here…
Moderated by Peter Laugharn, Executive Director, Firelight Foundation, this session explored how funders can "work" AIDS2012, and featured an interactive discussion among experienced funders, advocates, and AIDS2012 organizers. View the session online.
Peter also shared a number of ways for funders to "work" AIDS2012. With a focus on helping your grantees, concrete actions can include:
- (Co) Sponsor a working dinner or reception
- Use social media as "the next best thing to being there" (maybe better)
- Set up a thematic networking space in the Global Village (deadline next week!)
- Fund/put together a roadmap on your issue (which sessions cover your topic).
- Provide scholarships to help your constituency attend
- Fund media-savvy organizations to publicize issues you care about, sponsor media coverage or "key correspondents" to cover meetings and events
- Fund direct action in and around the conference
- Bridge divides - convene practitioners, researchers, donors, activists, and policymakers.
- Sponsor twinning activities (e.g. African and DC AIDS-service organizations)
- Help your constituency deal with, or recover from, conference exhaustion.
Peter shared this list from experiences with the Coalition for Children Affected by AIDS at previous International AIDS Conferences.
This article was originally posted by Funders Concerned About AIDS