Connecting with Nonprofits
The Institute promotes volunteerism through opportunities that reflect the goodwill and the innovative culture of MIT. The Institute provides guidance, resources, and support to find and/or create fulfilling service experiences. OGCR is available to assist MIT individuals, student groups, and departments in identifying local organizations for fundraising and/or volunteer work. Please contact us to learn more.
MIT Community Service Fund
The MIT Community Service Fund (CSF) was established in 1968 to support the efforts of MIT volunteers and partners in the community by providing grants to local service projects. If MIT volunteers are already working at your organization, please reach out to Ashley Kennedy in OGCR about applying for a CSF grant.
Ways to Volunteer
OGCR works with the MIT Priscilla King Gray (PKG) Public Service Center to support local service learning activities. The PKG Center provides guidance and helps connect members of the MIT community to a wide variety of meaningful and challenging public service opportunities.
Charitable Giving
Community Giving at MIT is a mechanism for members of the Institute community to connect to charitable causes by donating to the MIT Community Service Fund, The United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley, or their favorite local charity. For more information, please visit the Community Giving at MIT website.
Connecting with Government
OGCR is available as a resource to members of the MIT community who desire information or assistance in their own interactions with different levels of government. This includes inviting government officials to campus events and communicating with governmental representatives. Please contact OGCR if you have questions or would like assistance with government matters.
Please refer to the MIT Policies and Procedures website for more information about interacting with the government and the community-at-large.
Federal Government
The MIT Washington Office is your connection to the Federal government. The Washington office offers opportunities for internships, updates on science and technology policy, and opportunities to connect with other students to learn how to engage policy makers around STEM-related subjects.
Massachusetts
The Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth maintains a database of representatives for Massachusetts residents and will provide you the names and contact information for your elected officials. Contact OGCR for more information about connecting to the Commonwealth regarding public policy matters.
City of Cambridge
MIT partners closely with the City of Cambridge on a wide range of topics including land use, development, sustainability, urban planning, nonprofit support, traffic, transportation, and other topics specific to the local innovation economy. If you're interested in learning more about one of our many collaborations, please be in touch.
Register to Vote
We encourage all members of the MIT community to be active participants in our democracy. You can register to vote through TurboVote or directly though the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Lobbying
The Institute encourages all students, faculty, staff, and employees to exercise their rights and duties as citizens to participate as individuals in the electoral process. Federal and state laws, however, clearly distinguish between the political activities of individuals and those of tax-exempt institutions such as MIT. As a result, please review the MIT's Policies and Procedures regarding political action on campus.
Federal Lobbying
MIT is required to report to Congress on its lobbying activities and on gifts it makes to federal candidates or officials. If you have participated or plan to participate in a lobbying activity in your official capacity at MIT, please be in touch with us to discuss your obligation to report on those activities. We will only report on lobbying activities on behalf of MIT, and not on activities you may have conducted in your personal capacity.
Federal lobbying does not include: testimony given before Congress or submitted for inclusion in the public record; information provided in writing in response to an oral or written request or in response to a request for public comments in the Federal Register; communication required by subpoena or civil investigative demand; communication required by a federal contract, grant, loan, permit, or license; written comment filed in the course of a public proceeding; a speech, article, publication or other material that is distributed and made available to the public through a medium of mass communication; or a request for a meeting, a request for the status of an action, or other similar administrative request, provided the request does not include an attempt to influence a federal official.
State Lobbying
Massachusetts law (3 M.G.L. 39-50) requires periodic reporting of lobbying activities and expenses. Under Massachusetts law, lobbying generally includes attempts to influence decisions of government officers or employees on legislation, government policy or government procurement. Specifically, state lobbying consists of: any work, strategizing, planning, or research performed to promote, oppose, influence, or attempt to influence the decision of any executive executive or legislative official of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Additionally, you may need to report your interactions with a local official of a city or town when the outcome of those interactions are intended to ultimately lobby a state official. Please be in touch with us to learn more.