HIV Charities

[magnoman]

World Aids Day today reminded me that I want to start donating money to an HIV Charity.  I am interested to hear which ones people here think are the most supportive and cost effective.

My initial thought was the Terence Higgins Trust in the UK as it is where I am from and when my partner was diagnosed they gave me/us some good advice over the phone.

However I live in Latin America and wouldn't mind donating to an organisation that has a role here, so the Elton John Aid's Foundation sounded like a good alternative as well.

Then on researching  the forum I found the rather interesting looking Abzyme Research Foundation, but it looks as though they have been trying to raise 1.5 million for the past couple of years and are still below $75,000.

I do rather like the idea of donating to a charity that is focussed on finding a cure, and saw that Timothy Brown apparently set up a foundation that is meant to be the first devoted especially to finding a cure, although it doesn't look as though it is set up to receive donations yet.

Would be interested to hear suggestions for charities that are dear to people's hearts on here. 

[Ann]

Have you thought about contributing locally? Most ASOs these days need money to meet running costs. You know the old saying - think globally, act locally.

You might be able to find something near you (or at least find an organisation that can point you in the right direction) by using the world-wide hiv directory at aidsmap. http://www.aidsmap.com/e-atlas

[emeraldize]

I agree with Ann -- the volume of administrative costs involved in the larger organizations puts fewer dollars on the front lines. Your personal satisfaction of knowing exactly where your money lands may be greater. You could also call and ask specifically what they need -- paper? printer toner? field laptop? and so on.

[buginme2]

I agree that donating locally to your local ASO is a great place to start, and thank you for the reminder. 

[11 letters]

I work for a small, local, HIV-services organization, and I've worked in a few other healthcare and service-oriented agencies and I have to say that the small, local, agencies really are the ones who need money the most.

If you think you don't have any, call hospitals, clinics, or other places and ask around. I didn't know the charity for which I now work even existed until I saw the job ad!

[11 letters]

Also, I want to make another point since I've experienced this from the vantage point of the charities themselves. December is a perfectly fine time to give, but a lot of agencies get swamped with volunteers, donations, and inquiries during December because of the holidays.

I always encourage people to give whenever they can--even, especially, in December!--but I also ask people to set aside another month of the year like April, May, or June, to give. For particularly small agencies, a donation or volunteer hours in the spring or summer can be a lot more useful, speaking practically, than in December.

[HORRiD]

I want to use paypal to donate towards research.

any suggestions?
thx in advance.