AIDS Walk Revenue May Drop 30 Percent

Organizers of Atlanta's 11th annual AIDS Walk say revenue from this year's event could total "20 to 30 percent less" than last year, meaning a cut in funds for all 15 benefiting agencies. The Oct. 14 walk raised "a little over $1 million," said Chris Parsons, financial director for AID Atlanta. AID Atlanta coordinates the walk, which is produced by a private company, and is its primary beneficiary. AID Atlanta Executive Director Tony Braswell said AIDS Walk officials still do not have a final total for money collected from the event.

"It looks like it will be about 25 percent lower than last year," Braswell said. Last year's AIDS Walk raised $1.4 million, a slight drop from the year before. Organizers hope to receive and process additional donations before announcing a more accurate figure for this year's revenue, Braswell said. Organizers attributed the drop in AIDS Walk donations to a variety of factors, including rain on the morning of the event and the aftermath of Sept. 11. The terrorist attacks have left some people leery of large public events and caused others to redirect contributions to disaster-related charities.

In addition, while some 10,000 people turned out for this year's AIDS Walk, only about 3,300 actually raised money, Braswell said. "We don't want to say you can't come if you don't bring money, but we want to reemphasize that this is a fund-raiser that is the lifeblood for 15 agencies that care for people with AIDS." Benefiting organizations receive every dollar raised by their group's team. From the remaining money, AID Atlanta receives 64 percent, while the rest is split evenly among the other benefiting groups that meet the minimum requirement of $7,500 in funds raised and 50 volunteer hours. AID Atlanta receives about 8 percent of its annual funding from the event, Braswell said, and had begun to look at ways to cut costs even before the walk.

Back to other CDC news for November 2, 2001

Previous Updates