UKCRC analysis of smaller and medium sized charity funding

Cover of "From Donation to Innovation" ReportMedical research charities play a key role in funding and supporting health research in the UK. The UKCRC’s 2006 UK Health Research Analysis included the portfolios of the three largest medical research charities: the Wellcome Trust, Cancer Research UK and the British Heart Foundation. The next step was to broaden this national picture of research funding by examining the funding activities of other member charities of the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC).

The UKCRC has carried out an in-depth analysis of research funded by medium and smaller sized member charities of the AMRC. The report, From Donation to Innovation, gives a breakdown of spending by 29 charities on all types of health research across all areas of health and disease in the UK. Collectively, this analysis and the original UK Health Research Analysis give an overview of the distribution of 96% of AMRC members’ research funds.

Figure 1 from "Donation to Innovation" ReportThe report provides a breakdown of the combined research portfolio of the participating charities on different types of research, ranging from basic to applied, and across different diseases. It also gives details of funding within individual areas of health and disease. Like the previous analysis, it is a snapshot of health research taking place in the UK between 1 April 2004 and 31 March 2005.

The information in the report is valuable for:

  • informing charities’ future funding decisions
  • allowing charities to compare their research funding with that of other funders
  • facilitating collaboration between health research funders
  • enabling donors, patients and researchers to see how charity funds are spent
  • gaining a better overall picture of the charity sector contribution to health research in the UK

 

The report is based on the same health research classification system developed for the original analysis (see Health Research Classification System).

Available downloads:

From Donation to Innovation: An analysis of health research funded by medium and smaller sized medical research charities