makes investors happy and they may continue to invest further. If returns do not meet the intended level, this could reduce the willingness of investors to invest their money into the funds. Hence, the amounts of financial incentives are highly weighted determinants to ensure the funding remains at a desirable level. Self-Organized Funding Allocation Self-organized funding allocation (SOFA) is a method of distributing funding for scientific research. In this system, each researcher is allocated an equal amount of funding, and is required to anonymously allocate a fraction of their funds to the research of others. Proponents of SOFA argue that it would result in similar distribution of funding as the present grant system, but with less overhead. In 2016, a test pilot of SOFA began in the Netherlands. Securing loans A company or an individual may secure a loan to get access to capital. Often borrowers must use a secured loan where assets are pledged as collateral. If the borrower defaults, ownership of the collateral reverts to the lender. Both tangible and intangible assets can be used to secure loans. The use of IP as collateral in IP-backed finance transactions is the subject of a report series at the World Intellectual Property Organization. Withdrawal of funding Withdrawal of funding, or defunding, occurs when funding previously given to an organisation ceases, especially in relation to Governmental funding. Defunding could be as a result of a disagreement or failure to meet set objectives. An example that explains the withdrawal of funding in this case is that of President Trump's decision to stop funding the World Health Organization (WHO) over alleged Coronavirus mismanagement. See also Foundation (non-profit) Investment Investment fund Crowdfunding Peer-to-peer lending Research funding Seed money Micro finance Mutual fund Trust Fund Equity fund Intangible asset finance References Business terms Fundraising