BC/EFA Annual Report 2005 - Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS

oadway cares/equity fights aids
national Grants
program
active since 1987, bc/efa’s national grants program has become one of the largest
of its kind in the United States. A report published by Funders Concerned About AIDS showed that BC/EFA ranked sixth in the
nation in terms of grant dollars disbursed for HIV/AIDS, just behind The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and The Ford
Foundation, and ahead of such longstanding philanthropic powerhouses as the Rockefeller Foundation, The New York Community
Trust, and the California Endowment, among others. This achievement is a result of the rapid growth in our fundraising, and as
a result, in our grantmaking, over the past several years.
From the outset, BC/EFA’s grants program has been fast, simple, and efficient. A concise two-page application allows us to
make disbursements twice a year to hundreds of community-based organizations, an unusual feature among top AIDS grantmakers,
and one that we have learned over the years is meaningful to relatively small organizations. The vast majority of these grassroots
organizations operate on bare-bones budgets, but still manage to have a significant impact in their communities.
The National Grants Program for Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) at BC/EFA attempts to address the ongoing
and unmet needs of these AIDS and family service organizations. Because AIDS is not just a single disease, but a combination of
epidemics exacerbated by discrimination and poverty, our grants in this category are geared to those organizations that are providing
case management, food, housing, transportation, emergency financial assistance, emotional support, and non-reimbursable and
emergency medical expenses.
In 2005, BC/EFA’s National Grants Committee awarded grants totaling $2,243,500 to over 486 AIDS and family service
organizations in 47 states, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico. (See the list of agencies by city and state, beginning on page 13).
Since a great portion of the money raised for BC/EFA comes directly from theatre audiences across America, not just in New
York, we are committed to assisting the full spectrum of communities affected by AIDS. By making grants to diverse organizations
nationwide, BC/EFA is able to give back to those communities that help us support entertainment industry professionals through
the services of The Actors’ Fund.
From the time when it was founded in 1988 through 2005, over $29 million has been distributed by BC/EFA through its
National Grants Programs.
The BC/EFA Grants Committee is comprised of individuals representing a diverse range of AIDS service providers and
populations affected by AIDS, as well as members of the theatrical fundraising family.
national grants program
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