The Sanders Institute, a public policy group started by the wife and son of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, said on Thursday that it would suspend operations amid Mr. Sanders’s presidential campaign.

“When Bernie decided to run again, and announced it on Feb. 19, we thought it was better in today’s politics to definitely stop taking donations,” said Jane O’Meara Sanders, the senator’s wife and political adviser, in an interview. “We stopped taking donations right away, so that nobody could think they had access or could gain favor to Bernie by giving to the Sanders Institute.”

She said the board had acted in late February at the urging of their son, David Driscoll, the institute’s executive director. The news was first reported by The Associated Press.

The institute, begun in 2017, was envisioned as a wellspring of progressive policy that would build on Mr. Sanders’s agenda. The couple drew criticism over the involvement of Mr. Driscoll, who had previously served as an executive at Burton Snowboards and Nike. Last year, Mr. Driscoll was paid about $100,000, and the institute raised $730,000, Ms. Sanders said.