Donation Policy

Titles Bookstore Supports the McMaster Community

Titles, McMaster University Bookstore is a self-supporting, non-profit organization, fully owned and operated by the University and contributes over $1.25 million annually in support of student success. Our mission is to help students, faculty, and staff at McMaster fulfill their educational goals and life potential by providing books, supplies, information and services to support the educational process and promote school spirit for the University.

In addition to our annual financial contribution to the University we support as many student activities as we can through donations. However due to the large volume of donation requests we receive, a limited budget for donations has been established in conjunction with a donation policy in order to distribute funds.

Before making your request we kindly request you read the Donation Policy Guideline below.

Donation Policy Guidelines

What Organizations are Eligible for Consideration?

Titles Bookstore will consider donating retail material to organizations that are a direct part of the campus community. This would include student, staff and faculty organizations that are involved in not-for-profit activities that enhance the aims of McMaster University.
High schools promoting an activity that encourage students to attend McMaster University may be considered eligible for a limited donation. Applications from individuals or group organizations that do not meet the above criteria will not be considered.

Donation Do's & Don'ts

Do's

Submit your application early. We request a minimum of 10 business days to consider and fulfill donation requests.
Give as much information about your organization and event as you can. Clearly explaining the nature and purpose of your event helps us to determine the appropriate donation. An online request form has been created to guide you through the application process.
Assign one point of contact for your fundraising activities. While we appreciate the amount of effort and organization it takes to run a successful fundraiser having multiple people make separate donation requests for a single event is not appropriate.
Understand that previous donations to the charity, club or department for which you are raising funds or hosting an event is a part of the consideration process. While this may be the first time you have made a request your other groups from your Faculty or charity may have already made requests and Titles may have already made several donations to the same cause.

Don'ts

Do not request monetary funds. Titles provides support in the form of gift item as such as T-shirts etc. only. The average retail value of any one donation is between $25 and $75.
Do not request plastic bags. McMaster University is working towards creating a more earth-friendly and sustainable campus. Part of this effort is the elimination of plastic bags on campus. In support of this policy Titles will no longer be donating plastic bags for conferences and events. Reusable, biodegradable conference bags are available for purchase at a "conference discount". Reusable bags are for purchase only and will not be donated. If you require cloth bags for your event, please contact webstore@mcmaster.ca.
No exchanges or refunds on donation items. Each year Titles purchases items specifically for promotions and donations. As these items are not a part of our regular inventory they are non-refundable and cannot be exchanged. All clothing items are one size fits all.

Any person coming to the store requesting a refund or exchange on donated items will be directed back to the organization that gave them the item. If your organization would like to purchase items for prizing then we would be more that happy to exchange or refund your purchase. You must have a receipt for exchange or refund.
Donation requests for staff appreciation events will not be considered. As Titles is a department of the University, it would not be deemed it appropriate for our staff to request that another department to fund our annual staff appreciation event. We ask for similar consideration.

We will be more than happy to work with you to custom order promotional / gift items or to negotiate a discount on bulk orders. To discuss group pricing please contact webstore@mcmaster.ca.

Recognition

Titles requests that we receive an example of how our donation was recognized by your organization. This may include:

A flyer, brochure or program that displays the Titles logo
A logo and link from your event webpage
A digital photograph of the donation being distributed or displayed at the event

Download a print quality logo or use one of our handy banner buttons on your website.

Fill out a request form >>