Foundations that make charitable donations to support scientific and medical research do so primarily to institutions located in their home countries.
It’s what I found in a study I led with two data scientist colleagues, Albert Lászlo Barabasi And Alexander J. Gates. By analyzing the foundations grants that supported scientific research from 2010 to 2019we determined that nearly 40% of these grants and 60% of the total dollars awarded supported science and health research initiatives based in the donor or foundation’s state.
We also found that these donors and foundations tend to support the same institutions year after year. About 70% of grants awarded by foundations for scientific and health research one year were awarded again the following year. Additionally, there is a 90% chance that foundations that have supported an institution for seven consecutive years will support the same institution again the following year.
We analyzed Internal Revenue Service data from 990 forms – the documents that foundations are required by law to complete each year.
We identified 69,675 nonprofit organizations that were conducting or supporting scientific research. These nonprofits received nearly a million one-time grants from foundations over the previous decade. These donations totaled more than $30 billion in 2019 alone.
Here are three examples.
While on average only 2 percent of foundation funding for science and health research has gone to support work in Washington state, the Seattle-based Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has dedicated more than 20 % of its research funds to projects in this state from 2010. until 2019.
The Lilly Endowment has dedicated 62 percent of all its research funding to institutions located in Indiana, where it is based.
The Dennis Washington Foundation, located in Missoula, Montana, has funded science and health research exclusively at Montana universities, providing more than $20 million toward these efforts.
Ron Buskirk/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Why it matters
If the very local nature of the private financing of this research surprised us, it is relatively current in philanthropy.
At the same time, the local focus of many private funders is at odds with the way most health researchers and researchers scientists visualize and carry out their workwhich generally involves teams of national or even global experts.
The $30 billion in annual funding from foundations is also significant simply because of its scale. This amount can reach half of what The US government distributes each year support scientific and health research.
THE National Institutes of Healtha US government agency responsible for medical research, has a An annual budget of 47 billion dollars.
And the National Science Foundationanother federal agency that supports scientific research, has an annual budget of around $10 billion.
The federal government funds science and health research through other agencies tooincluding the Ministry of Defensebut the precise total amount of this support is difficult to determine.
What we still don’t know
The data available makes it possible to identify only the foundation awarding a grant and its beneficiary. Details regarding the objectives or purpose of this funding are scarce. It is therefore difficult to assess the impact of foundations on scientific and health research.
THE Research summary is a brief overview of interesting academic work.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is a funder of The Conversation Africa. The Lilly Endowment is a funder of The Conversation US