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.

In response to the needs of FSILGs, the IRDF now offers three kinds of funding assistance directed 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 exciting new grant program to partner with the FSILGs in supporting the operating expenses related to the educational activities in their houses.

In addtition, the IRDF periodically supports FSILG community-wide initiatives such as the alumni-run Safety, Lincensing, and Inspection (SLI) program and the FSILG community-wide upgrade of all wired & wireless computer networks. Because the other programs are well-established, this website focuses on the logistics of the Educational Operating Grants. Learn more about how your gift can help FSILGs.