Many people have decided to stop donating to Harvard until the University is able to demonstrate meaningful, measurable progress on our four focus areas: refocusing on academic excellence, improving governance, academic free speech, and student safety. While this choice is understandable, we believe that there are opportunities for targeting gifts in ways that will have more impact than simply not giving.

This is our living document / guide on the best ways to financially support Harvard in alignment with our collective goals.

If you want personalized support planning a gift or have suggestions, please reach out to [email protected].

HOW TO PROPERLY STRUCTURE A GIFT TO HARVARD

SPECIFIC INITIATIVES AT HARVARD WORTH SUPPORTING

• > Academic Freedom
• > Open Inquiry & Viewpoint Diversity
• > Constructive Dialogue
• > Bespoke Giving Opportunities, Professorships, and Scholarships

SPECIFIC RELEVANT OPPORTUNITIES BEYOND HARVARD

• > Academic Freedom
• > Open Inquiry & Viewpoint Diversity
• > Constructive Dialogue
• > Bespoke Giving Opportunities

HOW TO PROPERLY STRUCTURE A GIFT TO HARVARD

Avoid Unrestricted Gifts: Historically, the University has asked donors to give ‘unrestricted’ funds and trust how they are deployed. In today’s environment, you can make a bigger impact by designating your donations specifically to programs you want to support, ensuring you don’t end up unintentionally funding programs that contradict your goals.

Use a Mutually-Signed Grant Agreement: Customize the grant agreement Harvard provides you. Specify the scope and spirit of the gift as well as technical details. Make sure representatives from not only the development office but also the program you are donating to sign the agreement. The university prefers unrestricted gifts and may not inform you of all the ways you can and should edit the grant agreement to tailor your gift. For more guidance, reach out at [email protected].

Specify Your Cause: Make it clear that your entire gift must go to a specific initiative, and that no portion of it — even any ‘cut’ the university takes — can be diverted to initiatives you haven’t approved.

Avoid Funding Overhead: Normally, funding overhead makes sense, but in this environment, it’s important to ensure your gift goes only to initiatives moving the school in the right direction.

Fund Over Time: Fund your gift over time with an upfront amount and additional increments, and in a time-bound manner.

Identify an Internal Values-Aligned Decisionmaker: Identify a values-aligned faculty member, or in some cases a staff member, to name as the decisionmaker for the implementation of your grant. For recommendations, reach out at [email protected].

Include Oversight Requirements: Consider naming an external party with expertise in the space and in how Harvard works for oversight. For recommendations, reach out at [email protected].

Include Reversion Provisions: Include provisions to ensure the integrity of donor intent. This ensures that if the terms of the gift are not met, funds can be redirected or withdrawn. For specific advice, reach out at [email protected].

Specify Your Goals and Request Longitudinal Tracking: For all gifts, especially financial aid, ask for longitudinal tracking of outcomes.

Build a Relationship with the Development Office: Work directly with a development officer and build a personal relationship so they understand your goals and there’s more personal accountability.

GIVING AT HARVARD

Harvard Council on Academic Freedom
Launched in March 2023, the Council on Academic Freedom is a Harvard faculty-led group promoting free inquiry, intellectual diversity, and civil discourse. Their efforts led to Harvard adopting institutional neutrality in May 2024.

Support the Council's work and help maintain accountability to this policy by earmarking your FAS donation to the Council on Academic Freedom. Instructions can be found here.

Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School for Government
The Institute of Politics (IOP) is the most visible center on campus that invites diverse political viewpoints to speak and teach, ranging from Senator Bernie Sanders to former GOP Speaker Rep. Kevin McCarthy.

The IOP offers a wide range of programming. The question is how to donate specifically towards increasing student engagement with underrepresented political viewpoints at Harvard. If you want to give a gift like this, reach out to us.

Ernest May Fellowship at the Belfer Center at the Harvard Kennedy School
The Ernest May Fellowship at HKS's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs trains the next generation to apply professional history to strategic studies and international affairs. Niall Ferguson, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford and former Professor of History at Harvard, co-chairs the fellowship.

If you need assistance directing your gift to the fellowships like this, please contact us.

Rappaport Forum at Harvard Law School
The HLS Rappaport Forum is designed to promote and model full, vigorous, and civil discourse on critical and complicated issues. One of the Rappaport Forum’s debates this year: “Trump v. Anderson: Does the Fourteenth Amendment Disqualify Former President Trump from Public Office?”

If you want to support programs like the Rappaport Forum, reach out to us for guidance.

Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation by University Professor Danielle Allen
University Professor Danielle Allen, who is a member of the Council on Academic Freedom, leads this lab focused on modernizing democratic institutions. One project focuses on civic education in higher education. In a recent HAA webinar, Allen presented “confident pluralism” as an alternative to “DEI.” She also penned a five-part series in The Crimson, which concluded by encouraging students in the Yard encampment to engage constructively in policy-setting forums instead of disrupting academics.

If you want to support programs like civic education work of the Allen Lab, reach out to us for guidance.

Harvard Dialogues Initiative
Harvard Dialogues features a week of university-wide panels and workshops for students, faculty, staff, and the broader community covering everything from navigating contentious classroom conversations to discussing research findings to practicing better listening. This year, it began with The Summit on Intellectual Vitality and Free Expression, hosted by Harvard College with PEN America, with many Harvard students in attendance.

If you’d like guidance on how to donate specifically to Harvard Dialogues, reach out to us.

Middle East Dialogues by HKS Professor Tarek Masoud
Organized by HKS Professor Tarek Masoud, the Middle East Dialogues series hosts diverse voices on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Guests like former Trump adviser Jared Kushner and Palestinian scholar Dalal Saeb Iriqat have sparked controversy, which Masoud addressed in the Harvard Gazette and the Wall Street Journal. His WSJ piece, “Students Aren’t the Obstacle to Open Debate at Harvard,” argues that students welcome challenging views, but faculty and administrators fear outside critics and disruptive radicals — a dynamic he sought to change with the Middle East Dialogues.

If you’d like to donate to programming like this, we can advise you – reach out to us.

Intercollegiate Civil Disagreement Program at the Safra Center
Harvard’s Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics offers an Intercollegiate Civil Disagreement Partnership Fellowship to 6-8 undergraduates. This year-long hybrid program hones students' skills in leading conversations on challenging topics across political divides. It promotes critical inquiry, freedom of expression, equality, and agency, creating spaces for civil disagreement on campuses.

Contact us for guidance on how to direct your donation specifically to Harvard student participation in the ICDP. For broader contributions to the Safra Center, find instructions here.

Endowing Professorships: Consider choosing subjects likely to enhance viewpoint diversity within the department or university and use a rigorous screening process when selecting the department and role. Visiting professorships and post-doc roles can also be valuable to fund. Also know that you can ask for restrictions to be placed in several forms on endowed professorships, etc. For specific advice, reach out at [email protected].

Endowing Scholarships: Consider what schools and restrictions you want to place on scholarships you give. Again, these can be scoped and targeted more than most people realize. For guidance, reach out at [email protected].

Bespoke Giving Opportunities: Some excellent giving opportunities are currently being developed or have not yet been announced. If you’d like to create a custom gift to Harvard based on your specific interests, we can help identify the best opportunities and advise on structuring your gift for maximum impact — please reach out.

GIVING BEYOND HARVARD

If you prefer to direct your gift to support external efforts that help Harvard refocus on the 1636 Forum's values, we've got you covered too. Here’s where to give externally to help move the needle internally based on your interests:

Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE)
FIRE defends and sustains free expression on campuses. FIRE’s annual College Free Speech Rankings helped bring attention to the lack of free speech at Harvard after the university ranked last out of 248 schools. Its Campus Deplatforming Database helps hold schools accountable when they revoke invitations to speakers or speeches are disrupted.

You can donate to FIRE generally here or contact us about how to give to FIRE in ways that will improve Harvard specifically.

Heterodox Academy
Heterodox Academy (HxA) is the premier network of faculty and staff at universities and advances the principles of open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, and constructive disagreement to improve higher education and academic research.

Sam Lessin (Harvard AB ‘05) and John Tomasi, President of Heterodox Academy and former Brown University professor, recorded a conversation about Harvard’s history and the path back to putting open inquiry and academic excellence first at American universities. Watch and listen on YouTube.

You can donate to HxA generally here or contact us about how to give to HxA in ways that will improve Harvard specifically.

American Exchange Project
The American Exchange Project (AEP) sends high school seniors on a free, weeklong trip to an American community very different from their own, including swapping students from blue states and red states.

You can donate to AEP generally here or contact us about how to give to AEP in ways that will improve Harvard specifically.

Constructive Dialogue Institute
The Constructive Dialogue Institute (CDI) develops research-based educational tools, resources, and frameworks to equip schools, universities, and workplaces with a shared language and practical set of skills to build truly inclusive cultures and engage constructively across differences.

You can donate to CDI generally here or contact us about how to give to CDI in ways that will improve Harvard specifically.

Interfaith America
Interfaith America has partnered with hundreds of universities for two decades. Its programs equip students to engage with religious differences, fostering a thriving diverse democracy. The annual Interfaith Leadership Summit is the largest gathering of college students and educators committed to American civic pluralism.

Institute for Multipartisan Education
Founded by Shira Hoffer (Harvard AB ‘25), the Institute for Multipartisan Education is a 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to sustainably increasing and improving capacity for curious approaches to difference and disagreement in educational settings. The Institute most recently launched the Hotline for Israel/Palestine, which is a text message hotline that equips users with information and exposes them to a range of existing beliefs.

You can donate to the Institute for Multipartisan Education here.

If you’d like to give a custom donation to external organizations to improve things at Harvard based on your specific interests, we can help identify the best opportunities and advise on structuring your gift for maximum impact — please reach out.