NewsLII News | November 21, 2024
Why does LII ask for donations?
We are accustomed to being asked why the Legal Information Institute solicits donations, which is usually paired with the observation that Cornell has a healthy endowment. It’s a fair question.
The truth is, there are some good reasons why we don’t want to get our funding from Cornell. Your support makes that possible.
GIVE NOW 
It’s no secret that higher education budgets in general, and law school budgets in particular, are under (increasing) pressure. We benefit from and appreciate Cornell’s willingness to provide us non-monetary support (such as academic resources and office space), but we can’t have our ability to realize our mission compromised by inevitably dwindling allocations from a host institution during ever-tighter budget cycles. In other words, having “our own money” means a reliable revenue stream from which we can plan and execute the activities that are important to us–and to YOU as users of our information service and supporters of open access to law. Suffice it to say, this was true during the Zoom School era and remains true today.
That’s usually where the answer stops; and, we believe that explanation alone is sufficient. But this is a chance to say a little more on a little deeper level about the impacts of taking small amounts of money from a large number of donors.
For those of us who work at LII, being donor-supported drives home the impact of the information we provide to the public, free of charge, at law.cornell.edu. When we put out the call for support this time of year and folks like you answer it, we can’t help but conclude that our work is more than just appreciated, it’s needed. Each donor is a proxy for thousands and thousands of other users, and our work is imbued with a sense of obligation to give those users exactly what they need–comprehensive, reliable, unbiased information about the law, as well as a vision for how to continue to leverage emerging technologies to do even more in the future.
For those of you who support LII, we hope your giving sparks a feeling or two in the moment. Maybe you feel a sense of common purpose with your fellow donors, as you collectively make open access to the law a reality for tens of millions of Americans each year. Maybe you contemplate how sometimes the internet isn’t all bad after all. Or maybe you even get a little angry that the same governments who make the laws that govern us all can’t be bothered to distribute them to the public in a useful way. All of those are valid feelings when hitting that Donate button.
I humbly suggest that you hit it right now and see how it makes you feel.
For all of us at LII,
Craig