About PAS: Overview
Helping Philanthropists Make Informed Investment Decisions
The Philanthropy Advisory Service is an information marketplace designed specifically to facilitate informed philanthropic support of nonprofit biomedical research. It features independent, reliable data about nonprofit disease research opportunities that will improve the efficiency and productivity of philanthropists and the organizations that depend on their support.
It provides users with disease reports highlighting the latest research and scientific data for each profiled disease; organizational reports that provide objective analysis and assessment of an organization's priorities and practices; and a searchable research database with information about research projects funded or conducted by the medical research organizations profiled. In its pilot phase, PAS features in-depth profiles for four diseases: Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, malaria, and tuberculosis; and 22 nonprofit disease research organizations.
PAS was developed by FasterCures and supported by grants from the Pioneer Portfolio of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Objectives of the Philanthropy Advisory Service
The objectives of the Philanthropy Advisory Service are to:
- Build a system to promote information transparency and accountability in medical research yielding greater philanthropic investment
- Channel funding to high impact medical research organizations that employ smart operational practices and demonstrate contributions to the research field
- Increase donor awareness of differences between medical research organizations’ strategies and operations
- Enhance the overall quality of medical research by establishing assessment metrics and endorsing operational best practices
Key Products of the Philanthropy Advisory Service
The Philanthropy Advisory Service provides the following key products:
- Disease Reports – These reports discuss the burden, progression, and existing treatments for disease; highlight priority research areas; and provide an overview of activities in both the commercial and nonprofit research sectors. This information will establish the contextual knowledge for readers to evaluate nonprofit organizations in a particular disease area.
- Organization Reports - These reports provide detailed information on strategy, research portfolio, management, and financials. The reports also include an assessment of the organization’s practices according to a set of metrics FasterCures believes contribute to the acceleration of biomedical research. Organizations can be compared to one another at a high level using key data points. Readers can use this information together with the context outlined in the disease report as an aid to making philanthropic investment decisions.
- Searchable Research and Management Databases – The Research Database includes detailed information about research projects funded or conducted by the medical research organizations. Users can query this resource to understand at a more granular level the kinds of research each organization is involved with or to find an organization that is involved with a particular research area. The Management Database includes biographies of each organization’s executive team, members of its Board, and key advisors. This dynamic database can be used to better understand the profiles of leadership teams and how their professional networks connect organizations to key players in medical research.