Sustainability statement development and implementation

Sustainability Statement

The HHMI is an elite medical institute with a history of engaging breakthrough research into the development and understanding of genetic and biological information. As the current level of funding is available for a 3-year period, the imperative nature of securing funding beyond this time frame is crucial to the ongoing nature continued success and progress in research.

The channels that HHMI will investigate to apply for and receive ongoing funding for medical research are targeted and highly likely to provide support for the duration of research activity. The strategy involves searching the "Opportunity Title" at the http://www.grants.gov website. Grants.gov is a federally operated website that offers financing opportunities for non-profits, government, and academic research centers that facilitate research programs under the criteria for grant funding from the organization. For instance, the research of the institute into genetic disorders will qualify the organization to currently receive funding under the auspice of the Molecular genetics of drug addiction and related co-morbidities (R01). The funding allocated from this source is an input to a function necessary to receive additional funding.

Grants.gov funding and the documentation of adhering to successful research practices and the dissemination of research result information is critical to enabling funding from private foundations. The second source for funding after receiving grant funding from www.grants.gov is through targeted research at grant opportunities from private foundations. We have identified 10 potential foundations that will enable our research to continue unabated. The success of receiving grant funding from each of the identified foundations is dependent on the success of our research and development practices as well as the projected budgetary requirements beyond the 3-year time horizon.

Federated funding is a financing option used by non-profits whose mission and vision are more clearly defined and easier to implement. An example of a federated fund is the March of Dimes charity. The benefits of using a federated fund include the ease of making and accepting employee contributions via the inclusion of payroll deductions. Charitable dollars can also be aggregated to more than one group or to target more than one issue associated with the operations of the charitable group. Therefore, a level of flexibility is associated with the designation of a federated funding arm.

The disadvantages of a federated funds is that its use is not common to major medical research facilities and other charitable organizations that have large, temporary budgets for programs that may not exceed 3 years in duration. Typically speaking, the use of a federated fund is the optimal solution for a service-based charity and not necessarily one engaging in technical medical research.