Can small donors support research?

Knowledge-generating entities should create an endowment fund to sustain themselves.

The financial challenges facing knowledge-generating non-profit independent entities have been a subject of public discussion in Nepal for over two decades. For the most part, these entities are legally registered as non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Some of the more active ones run reading seminars, edit and publish journals, organise workshops/conferences, and do other academic activities; but they rarely run full-time formal degree granting programmes. Hence, although they are an important part of the research landscape in the country, they do not enjoy the status of a college or university and thus remain ineligible for funds disbursed by the country’s University Grants Commission.