For Donors

Just as every independent living group depends on the participation and goodwill of its members, the IRDF depends on the generosity of alumni ... graduates who believe that sustaining the FSILG experience is essential to the future of MIT. Today, as MIT and the FSILG community work together to build a flourishing future for independent living at MIT, this alumni support has never been more vital.

Support FSILGs by making your gift today via our secure on-line gift form. You can even double the impact of your gift by obtaining a match from your employer. Check here to see if your employer participates in a matching gift program. To make a gift by check, please make your check payable to MIT, and add a notation" "designate for IRDF, fund no.3036100" and mail it to:
MIT Annual Fund
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
600 Memorial Drive, W98-200
Cambridge, MA 02139-4822


As a donor, you can be confident that your gift is critically important to the continued vitality of one or more FSILGs. What’s more – unlike direct gifts to individual houses – IRDF gifts are tax-deductible, and are far more likely to qualify for corporate matching gift programs.

In 2011, the Alumni Association developed a new IRDF Donor Recognition web site. Because IRDF gifts are made through MIT, donors also receive all the usual benefits that come from making a gift to the Institute. Other than Unrestricted Gifts, the IRDF already has the broadest donor base of any MIT fund. Also, this past year an IRDF Photo Gallery was developed so people could see examples of how IRDF helps.

Donors can also be confident that IRDF funds are allocated with care. Each IRDF application is reviewed by a group whose members are personally acquainted with the challenges of managing an FSILG. Every loan application is considered by a Board of Allocation, who members consist of three long time Alumni House Corporation presidents. Every grant application is likewise reviewed by a Grants Advisory Committee. Grant awards are based on several factors, including the level of IRDF donations from each chapter’s alums. To make sure gift sources are accurately tracked, donors are asked to ensure that their living group is properly coded in the Alumni Database. To verify this coding, please contact Alumni Relations or simply check your profile on the Infinite Connection data at http://alum.mit.edu/.

While the Grant Advisory Committee will seek to honor donor preferences and will consider Alumni/ae donations as one of several factors in awarding grants, it is important to note that – to maintain the tax-deductibility of IRDF gifts – MIT must retain the sole right to disburse these funds as it sees fit.