Scientists Stunned as Medical Non-Profit Group Abruptly Ends Research Grants (nature.com)

A major US non-profit group focused on improving child health has abruptly terminated US$3 million in research grants -- leaving nearly 40 scientists confused, angry and scrambling to secure new funding. From a report: On 24 July, 37 grant recipients received an e-mail from the March of Dimes Foundation in New York City informing them that their 3-year grants had been cut off, retroactively, starting on 30 June. Many of the researchers were only a year into their projects, and had had just enough time to hire and train staff, purchase supplies and generate preliminary results. Now, several say that they might need to lay off employees, euthanize lab animals and shelve their research projects if they cannot find other funding -- fast. The March of Dimes, which is supported largely by individual donations, made the decision to revoke the grants because of a budget shortfall, says Kelle Moley, the group's chief scientific officer. "I know this is harsh news," Moley says. "As a former grantee, this would be devastating to me as well." That is small consolation to many researchers whom Nature spoke to.

Comments

this is GOOD NEWS!

[Thud457]

Obviously somebody has discovered a cure for polio and they're about the break the news. We don't need the March of Dimes any more!

How about trimming the top level MOD?

[SuperKendall]

In this somewhat old post on how MOD spends money, it spent $96 million on salaries and benefits. If they really needed to save $3 million, why could that money not have come from there?

Salary and related expenses are 37% of every dollar MOD gets as a donation...

Re:How about trimming the top level MOD?

[Fly Swatter]

Salary and related expenses are 37% of every dollar MOD gets as a donation...

In my opinion that is way too high operating expense to be considered non profit. I would personally clamp it to 15% max or you lose non-profit status. But mainly I feel this way because so many 'non profit charities' are pure scum, only in it to make money.

Re:How about trimming the top level MOD?

[bws111]

According to charitynavigtor, 75.5% of their money is spent on program, 10.7% is 'administrative', and 13.6% is on fundraising (it costs them $0.15 to raise $1).

Re:How about trimming the top level MOD?

[MobyDisk]

Charity Navigator rates the March of Dimes at 2 out of 5 stars, and 1 out of 5 on the financial scale.
Their program expenses, administrative expenses, fundraising expenses, and fundraising efficiency are all pretty good. But they basically ran out of money. Liability to assets should be 10% but it is 113%!!! I can't tell what they did wrong, other than paying their CEO a half a million dollars a year. That wouldn't be unreasonable if that CEO brought in millions of more dollars than a CEO who made $100k/year, but clearly something was mismanaged if it got to this point.

This is not normal

[Anonymous Coward]

The abruptness suggests that March of Dimes staff is incompetent and couldn't see the shortfall coming, that some major funding source suddenly cut them off, or maybe some insider embezzled a bunch of money. In any case, this doesn't look like a typical, "Gee, we've been having some difficulties raising money" scenario.

Re:Why I don't give to secular "aid" organizations

[alexgieg]

If you're a giver who wants to help babies--the MOD's ostensible justification for existence--go find the most orthodox church in your area. You know, the one where they believe abortion is straight up murder.

I like it very much how modern day Christians take their notion of what is murder or not from Aristotle, the pagan philosopher who first stated souls are the form of the body, therefore fetuses have souls since conception, therefore abortion is murder, rather than from the Bible, which clearly states the soul enters the body when the person first breathes and that abortion is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine to be paid to the would be father.

Being a pagan myself, I heartily approve of taking a pagan Philosopher's opinions more seriously than whatever is in the Biblical myths. But Aristotle wouldn't be my first choice. His ideas about the soul are very off. Plotinus and Proclus' are better. Be as it may, a paganized Christianity is better than a non-paganized one, and therefore kudos on ignoring what the Bible say on the matter, even though in this case I myself agree with the Bible! (y)