How to secure philanthropic funding in a competitive climate
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The Novo Nordisk Foundation is one of the philanthropic organizations funding research, such as that at the Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen.Credit: Novo Nordisk Foundation
Jim Simons, a US hedge-fund manager, used mathematical modelling and algorithms to make huge returns on financial investments. By the time Simons died in 2024, he was worth an estimated US$31 billion. In 1994, he and his wife, the economist Marilyn Simons, established the Simons Foundation, a major philanthropic funder of mathematics and basic science in the United States. By contributing billions of dollars to the foundation and other philanthropic causes during his lifetime, he hoped to continue generating scientific returns on his investment for many years after his death.
For decades, philanthropic organizations have been growing in importance as a source of science funding. Between 1980 and 2023, the share of funding for basic and applied research done at US universities and non-profit research organizations provided by philanthropic foundations increased from 10% to 16%, and the federal government’s contribution fell from 66% to 50%, according to the Science Philanthropy Alliance, a New York City-based coalition of private philanthropic funding organizations. Across the Atlantic, spending on medical research by members of the Association of Medical Research Charities in the United Kingdom grew from less than £1.3 billion (US$1.7 billion) to almost £2 billion between 2012 and 2022.
Nature Spotlight: Philanthropy and awards