Summary
Funding for biomedical research is at an all-time low. One of the greatest challenges to the retention of young scientists and the progress of research is the ability to obtain research funding. The entire process - coming up with an idea, finding a small amount of funds to generate initial data proving it’s feasible, writing grant applications, rewriting that application, waiting up to nine months for a decision, possibly rewriting the application again AND THEN hoping it is funded – is exhaustive! Researchers end up spending almost one half of their time just applying for funding to support their research. This process makes them submit ‘safe’ ideas – or ones that are more likely to get funded – than ideas that are slightly more ‘outside-of-the-box’ but could be the next big breakthrough.
In short… researchers need another way, and they need your help.
We have all been touched by disease, whether it’s yourself, your child, your mother, your father or your best friend – each one of us has, at some point, wished for a cure. We know scientists are doing research, and we give to campaigns and foundations and run races and sell cupcakes, but sometimes it feels like we never see any progress. What does my dollar really do? Who are these ‘researchers’? Why haven’t we solved this (INSERT DISEASE NAME) problem yet?
Goals
Donors Cure aims to do two things:
1) We want to fund biomedical research by allowing donors to give directly to the researchers on the front line. 92% of each donation to a specific project goes to the researcher leading that project as a ‘grant’, so they can use your donation specifically for that project.
2) We want to help non-scientists better understand how hard researchers are really working and see the direct impact of their generosity. We work directly with our researchers to help them communicate with you, so you learn about their progress – and about them as a person.
Research
For researchers, Donors Cure fills a gaping hole for funding the seeds of research or ‘pilot projects’, that generate initial data that can be used to apply for a larger grant. It also teaches scientists the valuable skill of communicating their research to the public. That’s a lot harder than it looks!
For donors, Donors Cure provides a selection of qualified research in one, centralized location, so you can easily find a project that means something to you. You also get to track progress on that project and see exactly how your dollar has helped.