AIDS groups to work together
The AIDS Trust of Australia has entered into a “memorandum of understanding” with AIDS Councils across Australia, and the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO) to enable national fundraising efforts for HIV programs and services.
The Trust will phase out street collections and instead focus on corporate fundraising at a national level – while the AIDS Councils, or their equivalent, around Australia will work locally.
Money raised by the Trust will still be distributed to its established community-based HIV organisations, Trust CEO Mark Orr said, through project and direct assistance grants.
“We will do the fundraising as we normally do,” he said. “But we will all be a bit more coordinated in how we fundraise so there is no competition between the organisations.
“We will now deal with the big companies like Telstra and BHP, and when we need to work locally we will work with the local AIDS councils to find out what we need to do.”
The AIDS Trust provided a well-recognised national presence for sponsorship and fundraising opportunities its chairman Robert Furley said, which could give broad exposure to any corporate partners.
“The AIDS councils can then add local focus and activities, creating truly national opportunities for corporate partners,” he said.
“Harnessing all that expertise provides a great opportunity to better target fundraising and sponsorship opportunities, to reduce duplication and maximise resources.”
