Who do we offer this service to?

We offer donor advising service to private individuals or businesses willing to donate funds for biomedical research. Research is still a business. Public research centers and universities rely on external donations in order to maintain their current pace of research. Do you think that cancer research centers have self-annihilation as the final goal? Curing the disease they were established to cure fulfills their mission.

What Research Benefactors 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.

Individuals who contribute significant financial support to research are truly distinguished people, especially when their donations are driven by altruistic motives rather than some personal gain. We believe that such philanthropic individuals deserve to be thoroughly informed and recognized for their noble intentions.

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

When working with Grantigen, donors gain the insiders’ knowledge and experience of a researcher and are more likely to ask the right questions to the fundraisers‘ top talent representatives. One example of such a question would be: “Will the discoveries made thanks to my donation be patented and sold to the public I want to help?” There are many more questions, but we won’t put all of them online.

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.

Flashback: Grantigen’s founder and his colleagues were always asked to leave work early when a donor gala was supposed to take place in the atrium of the institute. It was not appropriate for the junior researches wearing hoodies and sneakers to walk into the well-dressed group of people trying to cure cancer with wine, cheese and speeches.

Fun fact: Junior researchers with PhDs in Toronto earn less than garbage collectors and especially TTC (subway system) employees. Donations do not affect their situation in regards to the high cost of living. Donations do not motivate junior researchers.

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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Selecting the right suppliers for the equipment you would like a hospital of our choice to acquire. Medical equipment cost is blown out of proportions. Supplier markups are huge especially if there is a preferential supplier.