Nancy                                                                    July 8,
 1996

My organization (an independent nonprofit research
institute) combines the function of soliciting funding from
government agencies with the function of soliciting funding
from private foundations into a single development office.

We do this because the two functions are substantially
similar and require similar skills and knowledge.  In other
words, although the proposal forms and review procedures
may be somewhat different, applying for a grant from a large
foundation is not all that different from submitting an RO1.
There's a proposal with a problem statement, a line-item
budget, a review process within the funding agency, and an
award notice.  PI's who request funds from the government
also request funds from private foundations, so combining
the two functions allows them to do one-stop shopping.

I would recommend you analyze this question at your
institution by asking whether the functions are similar enough
to combine or different enough to separate.

Jim Simpson
General Counsel
California Public Health Foundation
2001 Addison St., Ste. 210
Berkeley, CA 94704
(510) 644-8200
FAX (510) 644-9319
xxxxxx@publichealth.org