Academy of Science South Africa 2005/6 Annual Report

ASSAfMulti-year Strategic PlanProviding evidence based advice to informgovernment policy making and public discourseconnected to all types of media including Sci.DevNet, Africaonline, and similar vehicles.ASSAf membership and its various awards and fellowships should be widely publicised atuniversities and other higher education and scholarly institutions, and the website should be popularisedas one worth visiting (see above).ASSAf Reports and Public Statements should be produced in a variety of forms, to facilitate nichespecificdissemination. The South African Journal of Science and Quest – Science for South Africa should alsobe used more actively to publicise and disseminate ASSAf events and products.ASSAf should furthermore brand itself at conferences and similar occasion with banners, posters andbrochures and the Academy should become active in public discourse in the literate media.(G) Building up an endowment and a diversified resource base forlong-term sustainabilityThe Academy requires financial resources to do most of what it seeks to do, but its key resources are itsmembers and the motivating power (once harnessed) of the “Academy idea”.Partnerships are the key to sustainable support from outside the organisation, and theirestablishment and sustenance require clear understanding on the part of Academy partners of what theAcademy stands for, and what its values are.Most stakeholders are potential funders in one mode or the other, but most will generally regardhelping ASSAf to build an endowment to be a lower priority than obtaining a useful “product” from theAcademy in a short time, even when some overhead support is provided in recognition of its enablingimportance.Endowments are most likely to come from individuals as donations or bequests, and such privatephilanthropy is both an absolute pre-requisite and a catalyst of more giving (an example wouldbe obtaining endowment support for the Sydney Brenner Fellowships from expatriate molecularbioscientists in the USA and UK).84 Promoting Excellence in Science for Society