Support Knowledge

As many of you know, the National Institute of Social Sciences is a private, non-partisan, not-for-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of the social sciences. Although we are chartered by the United States Congress, we have never received or been granted a single dollar of federal funding over the entire course of our history. We are a private organization, funded by private individuals who strongly believe in our mission to Celebrate Knowledge.

As stated in our Constitution, a key part of our historical mission has always been to “promote the study of the social sciences and research therein.” Since 2011, we have expanded this part of our mission by offering direct financial support to emerging scholars in the social sciences. Our flagship program in this area is our Dissertation Grants Program, in which we give late-stage PhD candidates in the social sciences unrestricted grants to help them complete their dissertations and contribute to the growth of scholarly knowledge in their fields. The program has been extremely well received and highly successful. We have given grants to 30 scholars under this program since 2011.

What is the problem?

For one thing, the demand for such awards outstrips our ability to fund all the worthy candidates we see. For another, current trends in government funding of academic research have sharply reduced grants available from public sources, making financial support from private sources like the National Institute even more important. The National Institute could easily double or triple the amount of grants it awards each year without diminishing the quality of scholars we support.

What is the solution?

Simple: we need to raise more money. For each $5,000 we raise, we can fund at least one grant to one worthy scholar, who can use those monies to add to the stock of human knowledge and advance progress in their discipline. For each $125,000 we raise, we can endow a fund that will enable yearly grants of the same size to multiple scholars in the future.

What will be the impact?

More knowledge. Better knowledge. Faster advancement of the social science scholarship we are dedicated to promoting. More intelligent minds working on the critical issues of society that we all need to understand and better our world.

What can you do to help?

Please give. Any amount, no matter how small, will help. All donations designated for Grants will be used solely and exclusively for that purpose. Please join us today!