What is a Donor-directed research fund?
Donor-directed research fund is a mechanism through which donors direct research efforts to the topics they care about most. Many donors want more control over how their contributions are used, giving them the chance to guide biomedical research projects that match their interests
Why is it important to democratize biomedical research?
Even academic research is a business. Public research centers and universities rely on government funding and external donations in order to maintain their current pace of research. The pace is quite fast and there is very little incentive to make a significant change in approach to research. Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) set research framework in their respective fields. Junior scientists or “fringe researchers” rarely get a chance to test their ideas if their research proposal if too different from the mainstream narrative. Private donors however have the power to change the current framework and push research into any direction they choose if they use Donor-Directed Research Fund approach.
What research donors usually believe
Grateful parents are the best research benefactors and private donors. They want to help less fortunate children who have the same disease by donating funds to the hospitals that helped their children. Big hospitals usually have a research wing, and therefore the donor envisions the following scenario: The current treatment protocols will be reinforced by purchasing some new advanced equipment, while the hospital’s research department will continue working toward finding new cures for the disease that they unfortunately had learned about firsthand.
Actual Outcomes of Donating Funds to Research Efforts:
A primary challenge in these types of transactions is the lack of control of the donor once funds have been disbursed. Research activities in North America are associated with high costs, not due to the intrinsic nature of the work itself, but because of long-standing institutional frameworks that have governed how research is conducted. Efforts to alter these established processes in a fast-paced environment introduce time risks that stakeholders are often unwilling to accept. As a result, a smaller proportion of donated funds is ultimately allocated to direct research activities.
Factors that diminish direct contribution to research
1. The presence of an intermediary foundation within the transaction structure introduces additional overhead. Compensation levels for foundation personnel are often significantly higher than those of the scientists directly engaged in research. This disparity is usually justified by the need to attract and retain “top talent,” with elevated salaries being a necessary outcome. The direct message of this statement is that it takes more “talent” to attract donations than to do actual research.
2. The donation is usually not directed toward the lab the donor may choose.
3. The funds are funneled according to the established framework within the organization.
4. The presence of a Preferential Equipment Suppliers. New suppliers offering the same equipment at a heavily discounted price are often not considered.
5. Total disconnect between donors and researchers. Donors usually talk to the research directors who put a lab coat on only for a photo-shoot.
How Can Grantigen Help?
We help you by providing a more balanced view than the one presented by the fundraiser’s top talent. We achieve that by:
- Identifying your goals to better understand what kind of a difference you would like to make. If you would like an institute or a research wing to be named after you, our services are unnecessary and even counterproductive.
- Suggesting that you set up your own Donor-Directed Research Fund
- Finding a more appropriate and more grateful match for your donation. There are many labs doing great work but not everyone is a superstar in the research community. Just as the politicians who occupy the highest offices are not the most qualified to do the job, the most well known names in science may not be the ones curing diseases. The center cares about stability, the fringe does not. Identifying those who can do the job is our task.
- Selecting the right suppliers for the equipment you would like a hospital to acquire. Medical equipment cost is blown out of proportions. Supplier markups are huge especially if there is a preferential supplier.
- Learn how you can direct your biomedical research contributions today.