Philanthropy in Health and Medical Research and the Impact of COVID-19

The third report in Research Australia’s COVID-19 series examines the role of philanthropy in Australian health and medical research and the effect of the pandemic on organisations that fundraise for it. Research Australia convened leaders of member organisations that fundraise to provide grants to third-party researchers, followed by a survey of these organisations; the number of respondents is not reported. Respondents identified their focus on patient- and consumer-directed research as distinctive, with 8 in 10 reporting that they fund research that would otherwise not be funded and nearly six in 10 citing their support for early and mid-career researchers. Half reported that fundraising for bushfire relief and COVID-19 welfare causes had slightly reduced donations to their organisation, and 27% reported a significant reduction. Nearly two thirds reported a decline of more than 20% in revenue from fundraising events. Over two thirds said the research they fund had been significantly disrupted or delayed, one third reported that their researchers had lost university funding, and a third had provided additional funding to support research. Member case studies describe the move to online fundraising, grant extensions and bridge funding. Research Australia proposes leveraging philanthropy through government co-investment, stronger collaboration between charities, foundations and corporate philanthropy, and closer examination of the relationship between universities and philanthropy.