IRDF ... Because Everybody Can Use Some Help Around the House.

Fraternities, Sororities, and Independent Livings Groups (FSILGs) are part of the heart of MIT – and the Independent Residence Development Fund, the IRDF, is one way MIT and its alumni help keep this community going strong. From the start, FSILG alumni have supported the IRDF with great generosity – and with the added benefit that, unlike gifts to individual FSILGs, gifts to this common pool are tax-deductible and are often matched by employers.

The 50th Anniversary of the IRDF was celebrated on Saturday, April 26. The entire MIT community was invited to a day that included a variety of educational seminars and an evening Jubilee dinner, honoring some special members of the FSILG community, including IRDF co-founder Reid Weedon ’41 and Pam Gannon ’84, who helped found MIT’s sorority community. Thanks to 15 organizational sponsors, the event netted over $30K for the IRDF. A video of the day is available on YouTube.

The IRDF offers four kinds of funding assistance to FSILGs:

• IRDF Construction Loans. In place since the 1960s, the IRDF Construction Loan program offers long-term low-interest loans that FSILGs can use to make major capital improvements and renovations.
• IRDF Educational Project Grants. In 1997, MIT launched the IRDF Educational Project Grants program to help FSILGs improve and maintain educational areas, as well as make them accessible to students with disabilities, without having to take on debt.
• IRDF Educational Operating Grants. As part of a growing effort to help FSILGs manage their financial challenges, in 2004 MIT and its alumni developed this new grant program to partner with the FSILGs in supporting annual safety and educational expenses.
• IRDF Community-wide Grants. These are initiatives that benefit the entire community, such as the extension of high-speed computer networks throughout the FSILG community and the alumni-run Safety, Lincensing, and Inspection (SLI) program.

Please note an IRDF Photo Gallery was developed so people can see their IRDF funds going to work. Learn more about how your gift can help FSILGs. Every IRDF donor is now recognized on a IRDF Donor Recognition web site, updated annually by the MIT Alumni Association. The MIT Annual Fund also produced a new brochure, which summarizes the great work of the IRDF.