About AFSA

Why Donate

Fibromyalgia messes with every organ system in the body. The central nervous system, the cardiovascular system, the GI system, the immune system, the metabolic and stress response systems, the muscles, the skin, and more … the ravages of fibromyalgia leave nothing unscathed. And the many symptoms of this disease are devastating, leaving one-fourth of patients work-disabled.

Close to five percent of the general population has fibromyalgia; that’s 16 million Americans! Yet, there are no lab tests for objectively diagnosing this disease, nor are there effective treatments. Even though fibromyalgia crumbles up lives, destroys dreams and relationships, and causes severe body-wide pain, the medical community has little to offer patients.

People with fibromyalgia should not have to muddle through life with an invisible disease that severely impacts their quality of life. Your donations to AFSA will help patients get what they so rightfully deserve: effective treatments and a better life.

AFSA’s research grant program is essential for accelerating discoveries on fibromyalgia. This program offers dedicated scientists an opportunity to initiate studies that are most relevant to improving the lives of millions of patients. We are the only nonprofit dedicated to funding high-quality scientific research on fibromyalgia, and your donations will help us continue with this mission.

When AFSA-funded investigators are asked, “What did the AFSA award mean to you?”—many say it was the initial stepping stone that got them started in fibromyalgia research. Most were well-known for their work on other painful conditions, but it was funding from AFSA that lured these talented scientists into the field of fibromyalgia.

Until the medical field can come up with diagnostic markers and more effective therapies, fibromyalgia patients deserve to be kept up to date on the latest in research, treatments, and coping techniques. AFSA combs the scientific journals, interviews the researchers and experienced physicians, and compiles this information into patient-friendly articles posted to our website. Everything is free.

The purpose of this website is to educate patients and empower them to seek the best care possible. Scientific discoveries take time, often years, to trickle down to the front-line healthcare providers, but patients (and hopefully many physicians) will be current on “all things fibro.”

Given the high prevalence and disabling potential of fibromyalgia, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) should be funding lots of studies on this disease, but they aren’t. An analysis of the NIH’s website shows they spent $1.9 million on fibromyalgia research in 2022, and their projections remain the same through 2024. This equates to only 12 cents per patient per year. Pathetic …

Admittedly, the NIH advertises that they spend $12 million per year on fibromyalgia, but when you look at the projects funded, almost all of them pertain to other diseases. The NIH just pads the deck with projects on failed back surgery pain, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, pelvic pain, jaw pain, endometriosis, sickle cell pain, depression, and rat studies that have no relevance to fibromyalgia.

Governments around the world are no different than the NIH, but your donations can help us force large granting institutions to pick up the tab for fibromyalgia. Our small grants program cherry-picks the type of projects that should be awarded (i.e., those that are cause or treatment oriented). Once AFSA-funded projects are complete, investigators have the data needed to successfully compete for large government grants. As a result, your investment in AFSA will generate additional future payout.

AFSA does not have a paid staff and all board members are volunteers. Even the scientists who review AFSA’s grant applications freely volunteer their time. As for the healthcare experts who offer input on articles posted to this website, they are volunteers as well. No person affiliated with AFSA benefits financially from your generosity.

Your donation dollars do not get gobbled up in office space and utilities. We also do not pay overhead expenses on research projects funded because that money just goes to the institution for unrelated expenses. AFSA also has strict policies about limiting salary and equipment expenses on studies, so that we can fund more projects with the donations that we receive.

AFSA does not partner with any third-party companies, such as the pharmaceutical and insurance industries. We also don’t have any behind-the-scenes arrangements with companies to receive kickbacks if we promote their products. All the information on fibromyalgia that we provide on our website is based solely on the published science. We are unbiased and uninfluenced by any third-party interests.

AFSA is a 501(c)3 charity, so your donations are tax-deducible to the fullest extent allowed by law. We have a 4-star rating with Charity Navigator and a Platinum Seal of Transparency from Guidestar/Candid. Please click on the Candid box below to read more about AFSA’s key goals, our strategies and capabilities for accomplishing them, and the progress we have made so far.

There are three ways to donate to AFSA:

1. Online with a credit/debit card or PayPal account.
2. Download our contribution form and send it in with your check or credit card information.
3. Employee giving programs. AFSA is an approved charity for Benevity, YourCause, CyberGrants/Frontdoor, Guidestar, PayPal Giving Fund, Network for Good, and other employee giving programs. Talk to your employer; they may have a matching funds program as well.

If you wish to donate in memory of or in honor of someone, both our online donation process and our contribution form accommodate these requests. If you wish your employee giving to be in honor of a special person in your life, just email us your name, along with the honoree’s name/address/email, and we will let them know about your thoughtful donation.

Our email is afsa@afsafund.org.