On the last post about the American Heart Association planning to introduce grant application fees next year, Glfadkt commented that:
... some groups (i.e American Diabetes Association) require those awarded grants to be members -- and the membership fee/dues cannot be paid from those grant funds.
I’ve seen this before with a couple of associations and foundations. And this raises an interesting point ... if grants are awarded to institutions, how can agencies mandate that PIs be members?
For example, it’s interesting to read through the American Diabetes Association’s Grant Stipulations Summary:
Award recipients must be members of the Association’s Professional Section.
All funds will be made payable to the Principal Investigator’s institution, not to the Principal Investigator.
While I understand the logic (support those who support the agency), aren’t these stipulations somewhat contradictory?
So who pays for the PI's membership to the association/foundation in order for the grant to be awarded? My institution refuses to pay for membership fees regardless of the source of the money (discretionary funds, startup account, intramural or extramural grants); thus, in this case the membership fee would have to come out of my own pocket. What's next? Am I to purchase consumables for the lab from my salary too?
And, for those who plan to apply for American Heart Association grants in the winter round, the question is twofold: (1) who will pay the AHA membership fee in order to submit grants for free and (2) if the PI refuses to pay the membership, who will pay for the grant submission?
