Dear Friends of 1980 batch,

Having been a proud BITSian, we are sure that you have done well in your career all these years and are now enjoying a comfortable lifestyle while crossing the crucial threshold of 60s.

Doing “good” is as important in life as doing “well”, and what better “cause” can we choose than giving back to our beloved Institute!

We are therefore, proposing to set up an endowment fund in the name of “BITS PILANI 1980 BATCH ENDOWMENT FUND”. Our endowment fund, with contributions from all of us batch-mates, whoever is willing to pitch in whatever amount, will fund initiatives we decide from the returns of the corpus. This enables the endowment to perpetually fund initiatives we choose. The first initiative will be to fund one need-based student tuition scholarship (approximately Rs 7 lakhs per year).

NO AMOUNT IS SMALL WHEN THE COLLECTIVE CAUSE IS BIG.

Individual contributions will remain hidden only in accounts and will not be published anywhere. We are aware that some of us have already made such donations in our individual capacities. Those people are also welcome to join in the collective cause with whatever extra they can pitch in.

With that in mind, some of you, especially those in US, have already been approached by the core team directly. More will be approached in the coming months. The intention is to have a significant amount pledged (and collected) well before our Indore RU on Jan 7, 2026, with more contributions flowing in during those two days, at the end of which, we will pledge the collective amount to the institute.

We have set an initial modest goal of Rs 1 CR but would like to exceed that number as we believe we can. Many have already started making pledges and we shall soon communicate an aggregate number ONLY to our batchmates.

Needless to say, donations will be tax-exempt. For this reason, those who are taxpayers in US may want to pay before end of Dec, and those in India may pay in Jan. If you have additional questions, contact information for our batchmates and BITS staff is provided below.

Looking forward to your wholehearted support.

Thanks & Regards

Core Team, BITS 1980 BATCH ENDOWMENT FUND

Where will the funds be used?

The fund will be used to support the meritorious students needing financial support as they pursue an undergraduate degree program at BITS Pilani, specifically at the Pilani Campus.

Donation Matching

Please check if your employer allows matching contributions here at Gift Matching

Tax Deductions and Benefits

1. Tax deductions are for the financial year when donations are made in India, US and Canada.
2. 100% tax-exemption for donations to BITS, India with 80(G) benefit.
3. Donation to BITSAA, a 501c (3) organization in the US is 100% tax deductible
   1. EIN: 22-3835037
   2. Address: 1030 E. El Camino Real, #256, Sunnyvale CA 94087

Important Note:

1. Donations should be made to the appropriate account based on the donor’s passport nationality. The passport, not the bank location, determines which account should be used.
2. Indian passport holders must transfer funds through an Indian bank account, even if the transfer originates from abroad. To contribute, click on the “Indian Donors” button above.
3. International passport holders must transfer funds to the FCRA account. To contribute, click on the “US Donors" or "Canadian Donors" button above.
4. Kindly mention "BITS 1980 BATCH ENDOWMENT FUND", Your Name, and BITS ID (optional) in the Description field of the payments pages
5. Please send an email to donations@bitsaa.org, fundraising-team@bitsaa.org , goyal@pilani.bits-pilani.ac.in and alolika.mukherjee@pilani.bits-pilani.ac.in  with the subject line “BITS 1980 BATCH ENDOWMENT FUND ” and the date and amount of your contribution, to help us track the donations.
6. You will receive an acknowledgment of the transfer within a week of sending the transaction details.
7. The donations are non-refundable.

For more information, please contact any one of the following:

• Rajiv Patel - rajivp@sbcglobal.net
• Satish Goel - satish@yahoo.com