- This topic has 1 reply, 2 voices, and was last updated 1 month ago by Orin Herskowitz.
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December 16, 2025 at 7:34 am #16175Avon LokMember
Hello,
For those organizations that have sponsored research agreements, what percentage of your programmatic giving is sponsored research and what percentage is solely a gift? Are there any best practice guidelines or guidance around when you should pursue one or the other?
Thank you,
Avon
December 16, 2025 at 8:41 am #16176Orin HerskowitzParticipantAt the Mussallem CHD Alliance, we use either gifts or sponsored research based on the situation. In general, we use gifts when (a) we do not want or need any significant control over the program being funded and (b) we don’t believe there is a significant likelihood of IP being created that would need to be managed either towards commercialization or towards open sharing. Our sponsored research agreement allows us to have staged milestones, directed workplans, revenue sharing & input on commercializeable IP, and open sharing requirements on research tools & data, which wouldn’t be possible in a gift agreement typically.
Orin
President, Mussallem CHD Alliance
December 16, 2025 at 4:51 pm #16185Cristianne FrazierMemberIn my experience, a sponsored research agreement/grant can have upsides for the faculty member as well as the funder. It provides some assurance to the PI that they will be able to spend the dollars on the project even during periods of uncertainty for the institution. Institutions can (and do) put “holds” on spending from PI gift accounts. These holds can restrict a PI’s ability to make a new hire supported by the gift, for example. It is not so easy to put such “holds” on grant accounts, where there is an agreement that specifies deliverables, like progress reporting, including financial reporting on how the dollars are being spent. If you are funding a project that you and the PI want to complete in a certain amount of time and with a certain budget, a sponsored research agreement can be one way to help the PI achieve that goal.
Cristi
Program Director, Medical Research
Circle of Service Foundation
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