By helping people to better understand what we do we help build loyalty them

The Foundation for medical research is a Lady of mature age, since she was born in 1947, but with, originally, a strikingly modern design of its role. At the time, colbertiste voluntarism of the post-war period had led to the creation of various public research organizations. The Foundation, private structure having, as them, designed to fund public research, has distinguished itself by choosing to proceed by calls for tender to select the best projects. This procedure also recently was adopted by the public authorities with the national agency of research.

Created by researchers, it has not benefited from the dynamics of the associations of patients, or to the fight against cancer. Yet it has managed to significantly increase its resources and to strengthen its commitment over the past two years. "Our collection has grown by 15 in 2003, and then 7 in 2005, where we have obtained EUR 15.5 million, bringing the total resources to 37 million", explains Catherine Monnier, Director of the resources of the Foundation. Currently donor database management has been improved with the help of an outside claimant, the Safig society.

"We have also been more attentive to the signs that gives us our"Research and health"magazine on the concerns of donors, using it to learn more about the projects we support," says Catherine Monnier. By helping people to better understand what we do, we help build loyalty them. "It is important, because the difference of foundations or associations that support a targeted search autour d'un type of Pathology, the Foundation, which supports research"in General", more call to the rational and emotional of the donor registry.

It is the amount of collection from the beginning of the 2000s that allowed the Foundation to its commitments to 16 million euros in 2004 to 25 million in 2005 and 31 million this year. It has expanded the range of its interventions with its programs so-called "focused" over three years (as opposed to generalist vocation). Because the rule of the Foundation is that engage the already incised amounts. The aim is to intervene, according to Joëlle Finidori, Director of Scientific Affairs, "there where we anticipate needs for future years", by helping to invest in heavy equipment, by funding research on Aging, supporting teams working on original and innovative themes, including very basic biology.

"The Foundation has the advantage of flexibility, explains its financial Director, Denis the hide." We commit ourselves over several years, but, if after the second call for tenders, it appears that there is not matter to a third, we abandon and there are many alternative investment opportunities.

Encourage sponsorship

"Classical" Foundation's programs focus on encouraging excellence. The program "Biomedical Excellence" 13.5 million euros is thus intended essentially for young researchers, including through the funding of the fourth year of thesis, which allows the selection of topics more ambitious or more risky, or assistance to the postdoctoral. Half of Inserm postdoctoral would thus benefit from the assistance of the Foundation. Finally, subsidies are also granted for the implementation in France of new teams, "the ambition being to the France a scientific attractive country", observes Joëlle Finidori. To implement its strategy, the Foundation relies on a Scientific Council composed of 30 personalities stationed in major public laboratories, renewable by half every two years, who chooses projects, being in required support by foreign experts.

In order to maintain its operations at their current level and perpetuate focused programs, the Foundation should support its collection effort. Businesses, interested until now very little medical research through their actions of sponsorship (2 of the resources of the Foundation), are among the priority targets of exploration with the aim to 10 contribution, hoping to benefit from the popularity of investment socially responsible.