November 18, 2020

How to raise funds for your mosque

There are around 1,800 mosques in the UK, and the vast majority are funded primarily through donations. Whether given as Zakat or offered as Sadaqah, these donations allow mosques to educate, inform, and support their local communities. And the amounts donated are significant; according to the Charity Commission, each Muslim gives an average of £371 a year.

To ensure that donations continue through challenging times, however, mosques need to put into place an effective fundraising strategy.  If you’re currently devising one for your mosque, here are our favourite fundraising ideas to get you going. 

Fundraising ideas for mosques 

Online Zakat calculator 

Digital platforms are fundamental in increasing donations. Alongside using contactless payment technology, mosques need to have functional, user-friendly websites to boost their fundraising efforts. Installing a Zakat calculator on your website will help followers work out their charity liability, and will guide them into making a donation online. This example from Islamic Relief Worldwide demonstrates how it could work. 

 

Social Media Challenge 

Social media is an indispensable tool for reaching out and interacting with larger audiences, and is especially useful when in-person events are hard to hold. As a mosque, the best way to use social media is to host virtual fundraising challenges. These are tasks completed by individuals and shared online in order to raise donations. And there are plenty of successful social media fundraising examples to get inspiration from. IslamicHelp, for instance, is running a ’10 Bridge challenge’, where volunteers trek across London and share their progress on social media. The Imran Khan Cancer Appeal, furthermore, is challenging men to grow out their beards for a month and provide photo updates on their instagram profiles – all in aid of prostate cancer prevention. 

 

Fundraising Iftar 

As communal events held after each day of fasting during Ramadan, Iftars provide an ideal opportunity to fundraise as a community. You could host a scavenger hunt for local families, hold an evening of entertainment, or even organise a few weird and wonderful sports events. Whatever you do, however, make sure to plan it well in advance, and promote online where possible. 

 

Mosque fundraising tips 

My10Nights 

My10Nights is a new digital platform which automates donations from worshippers during the last 10 nights of Ramadan, when charitable giving is encouraged. In 2020, more than 100,000 people used the platform to donate over £10.9 million to a range of charities. Although most of the charities featured are large organisations (such as Islamic Relief, Oxfam, and Barnardos), it is possible to request that your mosque is also included – bear in mind, however, that it does need to have registered charity status in the UK in order to be eligible. 

 

Contactless donation terminals 

To counter the trend towards a cashless society whilst increasing donations, mosques can install contactless payment terminals on their sites. These work by providing donors with a hassle-free, secure way of making a contribution, whilst avoiding the need to rummage around for spare cash and coins. It also gives mosque fundraisers a clear, data-backed insight into how successful their efforts have been. Abu Bakr Masjid (ABM), based in Reading, for instance, saw their donations increase by 25% after installing one of GoodBox’s mobile devices. The terminal was so successful, in fact, that it paid for itself after just one week! 

 

If you’re interested in boosting your fundraising efforts through data and technology, get in touch with GoodBox. We specialise in contactless tap-to-give donation terminals for charity fundraising, corporate social responsibility and church giving. Our goal is to help charities move with the times and away from physical cash, and our in-house creative team can also work with your cause to generate mass engagement. 

So far, we’ve helped organisations like The Church of England and The National History Museum boost their donation revenue to fund their causes. If you’re interested in finding out more, please download our pricing brochure or get in contact with the GoodBox team

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