So much has been built upon the great foundations of our HIV movement. Where would we be without the creativity, tenacity, and passion of all those who have done the impossibly hard work of raising funds that infused life into the highly stigmatized and necessary work of securing care and support for people living with HIV, advancing critical research for lifesaving treatment and prevention, and taking on the social forces that would seek to undermine our communities. It is because of you that we have been able to dream of ending HIV as an epidemic, to dream of an AIDS free generation — and after nearly half a century of fighting and progress we collectively owe you our thanks and our gratitude. 

But all of our progress is under threat. Over $700 million in proposed cuts to federal HIV funding. Plans to slash Medicaid and other essential health access funding as part of reconciliation. A Supreme Court case that could undo insurance coverage mandates for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). It has been a very long time since our field has seen so many existential threats all at once. 

At the same time, HIV advocacy, like many aspects of our work, has evolved over the past five years, becoming far more virtual in ways that have both served and challenged our ability to organize. The good news is that there is still a wealth of talent within our movement, forged by decades of experience in combating threats through friendly and hostile political environments alike. But to meet this unprecedented moment, we must continue to adapt. 

As you meet for the 2025 Funders Concerned About AIDS (FCAA) Global Philanthropy Summit in Washington, DC, just one week after the Presidential inauguration, we hope that you will adapt with us. 

Most notably, we will have to quickly fortify advocacy pathways with a strong capacity for rapid response. Many of the catastrophic threats we are facing will come to a climax over the next three to four months with new threats likely soon to follow.  We desperately need a robust and fully funded response right now. Historically, the HIV/AIDS field has spontaneously met the need for rapid response via street activism harkening to the legacy of ACT UP. While there are still fierce advocates doing that work, there is no denying that the visibility of these grassroots movements — acting for so long as our HIV cavalry coming to save us in our most dire moments —  was impacted by the advent of COVID and will be further impacted by a political environment that poses greater personal risks. Coalitions, charged with wide ranging responsibilities to defend and advance the entirety of the federal HIV/AIDS policy agenda are the fabric of our community’s collective advocacy and have a critical role to play but by virtue of their charge are not set up to quickly respond to urgent threats. 

It is for this reason that PrEP4All, AVAC and HIVMA launched the #SaveHIVFunding campaign in the summer of 2023 as we faced $767 million in proposed cuts in the House. Securing emergency funds from the Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF), Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BCEFA) and several national HIV partner organizations, the campaign successfully launched with a press conference on Capitol Hill in September 2023, generated millions of social media impressions through online community mobilization and ad buys, and led to thousands of letters being sent to Congressional representatives asking that they do whatever they can to save HIV funding. Advocates, with astute political and policy guidance from Collier Collective, engaged with policy makers within Congress and the Biden administration to emphasize the successes of important programs such as the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program and the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative and continued to amplify community advocacy for a National PrEP Program. Ultimately, the defense of these critical programs was successful, and all $767 million in proposed cuts were removed from the final fiscal year 2024 (FY24) spending bill. 

For FY25, new cuts were proposed in the House of Representatives, and PrEP4All, AVAC and HIVMA relaunched the #SaveHIVFunding campaign. Although we have yet to see the final outcome of our efforts as Congress is still debating funding issues, we have once again partnered with 120 organizations and generated thousands of petition signatures representing all 50 states. EJAF and BCEFA provided emergency funds for a second year, setting us up for additional ad buys as the budget process drags on into 2025.

We believe that far more of this sort of advocacy — the kind that is prepared to rapidly plan, fund and deploy responses to urgent threats — is required in this new environment. We will be expanding and extending the #SaveHIVFunding initiative for the foreseeable future, but to make that happen, we will need more funders willing to join with EJAF and BCEFA by establishing mechanisms for quickly funding urgent advocacy. We will also need for more leaders in the federal policy space to join us and create their own rapid response mechanisms, such as NMAC’s recent announcement of plans to establish a situation room. In all cases, we need to emphasize speed and solidarity in recognizing major threats, devising a community-centered response and jumping into action. 

We thank you for all that you have done, for all that you continue to do, and for considering this request. If we do not meet this moment as a movement, if we do not establish and fund the mechanisms we need to respond in real time in a political environment that will be rapidly changing and hard to predict, there is no telling how far our fight to end HIV as an epidemic and to improve the lives of people living with HIV will regress. We hope that you will join us in the #SaveHIVFunding campaign by signing on in support, joining our upcoming webinar (funders can register here) or most importantly quickly providing funding for the kind of full court press we are going to need in the next six months. And we hope that within our collective coalitions, organizations, and foundations that we all continue to examine how we meet the urgency of the moment.