12.6 Fundraising on Campus

This policy was last updated January 5, 2024. See the update history page for more information.

The Institute recognizes the responsibility of the MIT community to support the broader community of social interests in financial ways as well as through the efforts of its individual members. To this end, it sanctions certain annual fund campaigns that are broadly based appeals concerning a wide spectrum of social service oriented agencies and providing the individual community member a means of expressing their support of their objectives.

While recognizing the validity and purpose of these community-wide fund drives, the Institute realizes that their scope may be too broad to meet the charitable and social service objectives of all organizations on campus. Because of the conflict between the desire to assist in meeting the social needs of our day and the vulnerability of MIT's close-knit campus community to an endless succession of fund drives, the following policies have been developed regarding all fund drives on campus:

  1. Fundraising may be conducted to support religious, charitable, educational, literary, and scientific organizations, funds, foundations, and causes.
  2. Fundraising may be conducted only under the supervision of recognized campus organizations, whether student, staff, or employee oriented. The funds collected, however, may be used for off-campus projects by that organization, or they may be sent to legal off-campus organizations.
  3. Funds raised through the use of Institute facilities may not be used on behalf of or in opposition to candidates for public office, nor may they be used in substantial efforts to influence legislation or in any other partisan political activity.
  4. The actual staffing of booths and running of fundraising events must be done by members of the Institute community.
  5. Institute organizations should not be formed for the sole purpose of raising funds for off-campus causes; rather, it is presumed that fundraising will be part of their overall program.
  6. Access to public Institute facilities, including the booths in the Building 10 Lobby, remain under the direction of the several offices assigned that responsibility.