M.A.C. AIDS Fund
/OVERVIEW: A charitable project of M.A.C., the fund makes numerous grants to global health projects around the world that seek to empower marginalized groups affected by HIV/AIDS. It also seeks to reduce the effects of poverty on people and communities suffering from HIV/AIDS.
IP TAKE: Grantseekers interested in M.A.C. funding, would do well to approach the foundation early in project development. Also, social justice angles are important. M.A.C. places special importance on the most vulnerable, neglected, marginalized, and high-risk populations. This is a pretty approachable funder despite being a corporate fund. While the staff is responsive, it may take a few days to hear back. Though the foundation doesn’t take major grantmaking risks, it does like to fund innovative work that’s conduction through an intersectional or social justice lens.
PROFILE: The M.A.C. AIDS Fund operates at the intersection of fashion and philanthropy. The foundation’s Chairman, John Demsey, is also the group president of the Estee Lauder Companies, which counts cosmetic lines like Estee Lauder, M.A.C., Tom Ford Beauty, Bobbi Brown, Jo Malone, and La Mer among its brands. The fund uses fashion to raise money with proceeds from M.A.C.’s VIVA GLAM, an international line of lipstick and “lipglass” (as opposed to the more traditional “lipgloss”), which supports the fund’s efforts. The fund supports projects that target the treatment, prevention and basic needs of underserved people living with HIV/AIDs.
Grants for Global Health and Diseases
Internationally, the fund supports areas of the world that have high HIV/AIDS rates such as India, the Caribbean, and Africa. In the U.K., M.A.C. directs much of its HIV/AIDS funding to nutrition counseling and supporting low-income populations living with AIDS. These funds are typically channeled through the U.K.-based NGOs Terrence Higgins Trust and The Food Chain. MAC does not accept unsolicited proposals for work in South Africa and the Caribbean. It accepts applications on a rolling basis in other countries where VIVA GLAM is sold. In North America, M.A.C. also makes grants to HIV/AIDS work that supports community initiatives, harm reduction (including needle exchange programs), and HIV in elderly populations.
According to its tax filings, grantees in this area of focus tend to be based in the United States, but with charitable operations abroad. U.S.-based grantees include Tides Foundation, Fund for Public Health in New York, Washington AIDS Partnership, and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids. Internationally, it tends to fund large INGOs like AIDS United, Doctors Without Borders and USAID.
While M.A.C.’s funding priorities may vary depending on where in the world it makes grants, the foundation’s target populations are generally the same: the vulnerable and marginalized. In particular, the fund supports empowering and aiding women and children, sex workers, intravenous drug users, and men who have sex with men—groups disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS, and are essential in fighting the epidemic.
Grants for Immigrants and LGBTQ
Aside from grants for global health and diseases, the M.A.C. AIDS Fund also benefits immigrants in the LGBTQ community. Grants here appear to take a broad approach, but most often focus on national policy advocacy, state and local advocacy, as well as direct services to LGBTQ immigrants. M.A.C. has ramped up efforts in this grant space in recent years, making the fund a stand out. In a recent year, it granted about $350,000 for LGBTQ immigration issues, making it the fifth highest funder in this area in that year.
Important Grant Details:
Although M.A.C. occasionally makes big grants, most of its grants typically range between $50,000 to $150,000. Since its policies vary widely year to year, grant seekers should approach the program’s staff early in their project development to coordinate on grantmaking policy specifics.
PEOPLE:
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