Foundation Relations at Boston University.

Private philanthropic foundations are an important source of research funding.  Identifying the foundations that will be most receptive to BU funding requests and helping faculty to apply for grants is the mission of BU’s Foundation Relations office. The FR team members who work with SPH faculty are:

  • David Gillerman, Senior Director, dgillerm@bu.edu, 617.359.8089, he/him
  • Claire Moriarty, Foundation Relations Associate, cmmoria@bu.edu, 617.358.2501, she/her

David and Claire work closely with all SPH faculty and staff concerned with promoting research at SPH, particularly Michael McClean, Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Advancement; Vanessa Boland Edouard, Assistant Dean for Faculty Resources and Director of the idea hub; and Leyla Dincer, idea hub Relationship Manager.

 Resources.

The Foundation Relations website is intended to help BU faculty acquire information about the foundations and identify the ones most likely to support their work.

  • The Finding Funding page has links to various tools for identifying suitable funders, including the Foundation Directory and several lists of grant programs, organized by academic field.
  • The For Early Career Faculty page explains the various way the FR team supports newly independent faculty members and has links to global lists of early-career grants.
  • Our Resources page includes recorded “Meet the Funder” events: a series of more than 40 webinars in which foundations have made presentations to BU faculty; and our Library of Successful Proposals: more than 100 successful letters of intent, proposals, and related materials donated by BU faculty. Prospective applicants can browse the contents to find insight on level of detail, structure, style, and format for a range of foundations.

 Getting started.

On Wednesday, May 14 at 1 pm, we will be hosting a faculty development seminar on working with foundation funders. The seminar will provide an overview of BU Foundation Relations, how to build relationships with foundations, and some tips on aligning your research with foundation priorities. Several faculty will also discuss their strategy for approaching foundations and lessons learned along the way.

Faculty who would like to receive a calendar invitation for the workshop can register here.

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