Benefunder Partners with Rutgers University to Advance Innovation Via High Impact Philanthropy Top Researchers Tap Into Alternative Funding Platform March 19, 2015 – Benefunder, an organization that works with wealth management firms to connect donors with top researchers across the nation, has announced a partnership with Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, to help advance scientific breakthroughs and discoveries into the market. Under the new collaboration, researchers universitywide will have access to Benefunder’s unique funding platform, including faculty from Rutgers’ Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, which is ranked #1 nationally for research funding. While Rutgers’ nearly $746 million in annual research and development expenditures places it among the nation’s top 30 universities, the institution faces a decline in overall federal funding for research, while its home state of New Jersey has also decreased its support for research. “We need to be much more creative in our pursuit of funding for our faculty’s research,” said Christopher J. Molloy, senior vice president for research and economic development at Rutgers. “Our research enterprise spans nearly every vital field of science and engineering today, and our faculty are among some of the world’s top leaders in their fields. Benefunder presents a unique and powerful opportunity to better access private funds to launch new collaborations that will advance important science in what we hope will be a wide range of disciplines.” Rutgers joins other leading institutions, such as Syracuse University, UC San Diego and the International Computer Science Institute in Berkeley, Calif., that have partnered with Benefunder to give philanthropists direct access to today’s top research, while pushing innovation forward . “As the funding for academic research in the United States continues to stagnate, more and more researchers are leaving academia or even the country to pursue greener pastures in environments where funding is more prevalent,” said Christian Braemer, cofounder and CEO of Benefunder. “By partnering with top universities such as Rutgers, Benefunder hopes to help boost American innovation and competitiveness while allowing donors to fund causes that matter to them.” Benefunder currently has more than 500 researchers on its platform from leading universities across the nation. About Benefunder Benefunder is a unique hybrid organization -- part foundation and part tech startup -- that has created a new funding channel for research and innovation while providing philanthropists with a smarter and more meaningful way to give. Through its Charitable Innovation Fund, Benefunder connects donors and the nation’s top researchers across all fields of study, including healthcare and life sciences, advanced technologies, the environment, and the arts and humanities. More information at www.benefunder.org. Watch the Benefunder video here. About Rutgers Established in 1766, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is America’s eighth oldest institution of higher learning. The Rutgers system educates more than 65,000 students and serves the people of New Jersey at universities, research centers and clinical practices throughout the state. The flagship, Rutgers University-New Brunswick, is one of the nation’s premier public research universities and is the only public institution in New Jersey represented in the prestigious Association of American Universities. Rutgers also is a member of the Big Ten Conference and its academic counterpart, the Committee on Institutional Cooperation – a consortium of 15 world-class research universities. Rutgers ranks #1 among U.S. universities for chemistry R&D funding. More information at www.rutgers.edu. Media contact: Andrea Siedsma Benefunder [email protected] 760-840-0494