IIT Madras Foundation — The Purpose

Girish MuckAI, CEO & Board Member, IIT Madras Foundation

IIT Madras Foundation was established in early 2015 with the mission to develop a $100M endowment for propelling IIT Madras to greater heights. The Indian Institute of Technology, Madras has been one of the premier institutions for engineering, technology and science and has continued to flourish over its 60+ years in existence. Set up in the late 1950s, IIT Madras is one of the five original IITs (now there are 23 IITs across India) for advancement of technology initiatives.

IIT Madras has close to 10,000 alumni in North America with many in leadership roles across a range of industries, academia, research labs, financial services, venture capital/private equity, government and other areas. One thing that most alumni agree on is how their life was transformed in a significant manner and the benefits they enjoy to date from the education and life at IIT Madras. The hostel life was incredibly enriching for most people and the eternal friendships with super-smart people is like an icing on the cake with a cherry on top.

Unlike its counterparts in the US — Universities and Colleges whose alumni are mostly concentrated in North America and whose operations are focused locally — IIT Madras has a unique challenge to deal with. Its alumni with arguably the most giving potential is in the US, whereas the school is in Chennai in Southern India. This added complexity brings about a number of operational, logistical and efficiency challenges. IIT Madras Foundation and IIT Madras officials have been working hand in hand to ensure that the stakeholders interests are always kept in mind when creating a platform for giving.

Thanks to the generous donors, IIT Madras Foundation has raised close to $25M over the past half-decade and is run primarily by a group of dedicated and talented volunteers who are spread across the country, but with a significant presence in the San Francisco Bay Area. Moreover, IIT Madras Foundation has established a robust governance structure and a blueprint for an organization culture that makes it an envy among non-profit organizations. Zero self-interest coupled with immense talent and unparalleled dedication to the cause makes IITM Foundation an effective engine for sustained growth.

People give to a cause for many reasons. People volunteer with a non-profit organization for a variety of reasons. One common thread that motivates people to volunteer and people to donate is a sense of purpose.

Why does the chair of the National Gifts Committee spend countless hours on weekends and evenings speaking with potential donors? Why does a member of the investment committee spend hours each day figuring out the best investment strategy taking into account macro and micro trends? Why does the operations head go through each and every donation to make sure they are identified correctly? Why does the board member who is in charge of donor stewardship diligently go through each report to be shared with significant donors and ensures that a gift coding can scale for decades to come? Why does the development associate spend countless hours ensuring each and every gift is correctly captured and coded? Why does a donor reach out to us and make a $1M commitment? Why does a donor call us and set up an Institute Chair Endowment and fund the gift through their retirement account balance?

One recurring theme is a deep sense of purpose. They all believe in what IIT Madras and IIT Madras Foundation are doing and how that is making a difference to the community at large. It is well accepted that one of the major reasons for our advancement and the advancement of any modern society is education, especially high-quality education. Education transforms societies and countries on a massive scale. IIT Madras is singularly focused on educating not just the crema de la crema that make it through the JEE, but also has embarked on MOOC initiatives such as the online BSc. in Data Science. The 50,000 strong alumni community is not just creating millions of jobs, but also pushing the boundaries of innovation to improve humanity. Deep research initiatives on a variety of fields have been making serious dents in access to clean water to remote medical diagnosis. Recent funding for AI research for social good are examples of how donors are leveraging the expertise for solving problems for those in need.

The IIT Madras alumni, through their work in so many areas, are making a massive impact in a multitude of initiatives that is transforming on a global scale — through innovation, entrepreneurship, research, education, policy etc. IIT should be credited with providing this alumni with education, thought process, motivation, network and most importantly, a deep sense of purpose.

IIT Madras Foundation is proud of and is committed to enabling an ecosystem for donors to make a scalable, sustainable and measurable impact on a global scale.

Girish MuckAI volunteers as the CEO and Board Member of IIT Madras Foundation and is based in the San Francisco Bay Area.