Crowdfunding campaigns are your mosque's go-to for timebound projects, building fund needs, and even for accepting Zakat and Sadaqah. But you would want to follow the right steps and best practices to ensure the success of your campaign. Read this guide for deep insights into mosque crowdfunding, successful examples, and more!
Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the world, with 1.9 Billion Muslims worldwide. Muslims populate all US states, but most reside in New York, California, and Illinois.
American Muslims are among the most racially diverse faiths in the US, with 25% black, 24% white, 18% Asian, 18% Arab, 7% mixed race, and 5% Hispanic. This diversity also allows mosques to raise money with the help of a bigger crowd to fulfill their mission of connecting people with Allah. Mosque crowdfunding is an excellent way to reach this diverse group and their own communities.
In this article, we’ll discuss what crowdfunding is, when mosques can use it to raise money, and the steps and tips to help you successfully boost mosque donations with crowdfunding.
A crowdfunding campaign helps nonprofit organizations raise small donation amounts from a crowd of people in a given window of time to be able to meet their fundraising needs.
These campaigns are ideal for emergency fund needs, building projects, specific programs, and upcoming events. As expected donations are usually small in amount, this campaign is ideal for encouraging a broader range of people to come forward and support your mission. Also, being timebound, these campaigns create a sense of urgency among supporters to give more than they otherwise would.
Every year, Muslims give a percentage of their income or Zakat to impoverished Muslims in need. According to many scholars, Mosques do not strictly qualify for Zakat funds, but they can collect and distribute Zakat to fund activities and programs that support Muslims worldwide.
Whether your Mosque is fundraising for zakat or accepting Sadaqah, crowdfunding can be an excellent way to raise funds from Muslims in your community. Mosques can host crowdfunding campaigns throughout the month of Ramadan or collect funds for Eid al Adha and Eid al Fitr. Mosques can also raise money with crowdfunding campaigns to build a Masjid and for relief campaigns.
Georgetown Islamic Center has done just that and was able to raise almost $6,000 more than its original $200,000 goal with Donorbox Crowdfunding. Donation highlights on their Donor Wall range from $25 to $5,000, with many Muslims signing up to give monthly Sadaqah.
Crowdfund for Your Mosque with Donorbox
Pro tip: Many mosques rely on their followers’ generous Sadaqah gifts. Donorbox Recurring Donations makes it easy for mosques to collect these one-time and recurring gifts online. You can easily add multiple recurring donation intervals to your crowdfunding donation form. Your supporters will receive their own login information to access their accounts and manage their recurring plans.
Crowdfunding can be a fantastic option to fundraise for your mosque, and there are a few steps you can take to ensure success.
Before anything else, you must find the best crowdfunding platform for your mosque. Donorbox Crowdfunding is an affordable, easy-to-use, and powerful tool that allows mosques and Islamic charities to crowdfund to raise funds for their projects and operational funds.
Donorbox Crowdfunding is packed with storytelling and shareability potential that helps engage campaign visitors and supporters. Your campaign will have an “Updates” tab to post regular updates. Your campaign visitors will be able to subscribe to your campaign, and you can send emails to them with the updates. There is a virtual donor wall that highlights donations and acts as social proof, making way for more donations to your campaign.
Your donors can also share your crowdfunding campaign with the social media buttons available on the campaign page. Finally, all your donor and donation data gets stored in the Donorbox database. This means you can manage and segment this data to reach out to them with a targeted approach.
Here is an example of a crowdfunding campaign created on Donorbox. We’ve highlighted the above-mentioned features, and suggest that you go to the campaign page here to get better insights into this successfully running campaign.
Create a Customized Crowdfunding Campaign
When crowdfunding for your mosque, it’s crucial to define your purpose first. As we mentioned before, you can use crowdfunding to raise funds for relief campaigns, building costs, and collect Zakat during Ramadan. It is important to mention why you’re specifically fundraising for in the campaign content, so people get a clear picture of what they should donate toward.
UKeff’s crowdfunding campaign on Donorbox has kept Zakat local and raised over $5,000 to provide food boxes to their community.
After deciding on your purpose, it’s time to set a fundraising goal. The best way to find this amount is to revisit past campaigns to see how much you’ve raised. You can also look at other mosques crowdfunding campaigns to see how much they raised.
From here, you must assess your supporters. Individuals aged 24 to 35 are more likely to participate in crowdfunding campaigns. But overall, if your mosque has a solid base of supporters, you’ll likely have more success.
Make sure you highlight the fundraising goal on your crowdfunding campaign page, so people can help meet the goal. Here’s an example for your better understanding.
Pro tip: Use a donor management tool to find out the giving abilities of your existing supporters. With Donorbox Donor Management, you can easily apply filters to your donor data to find out this information. This will help you set specific ask amounts on the donation form and send targeted appeals to supporters during the campaign.
Followers of Islam are generous and passionate supporters of your Mosque. It’s best to get them involved early in the process. You’ll also want to give them specific responsibilities they can be proud of when accomplished.
By forming this committee and giving them ownership over the campaign, they are more likely to share your posts and generate more funds.
Like any campaign, crowdfunding needs inspiring stories and materials to encourage participation. Volunteers must want to raise funds for your project, and donors need a reason to give.
One of the best ways to excite your volunteers and donors is to create a video that shares why the campaign is important. You don’t have to hire a professional videographer. If you have quality storytelling, homemade videos from your phone will do.
When creating these materials, you must show how the project will positively impact your community. Take time to focus on the social, educational, and cultural benefits and emphasize transparency throughout and after your campaign.
As you plan your campaign, set a date to launch and ensure all details are live on that day. Before your campaign, you must find several volunteers to share your campaign with their friends and family.
Do your research and choose individuals with a strong online following. Before and after your campaign, you must train volunteers on how best to reach out and encourage donations.
Pro tip: Turn your crowdfunding campaign into a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign. This will help your volunteers and other ardent supporters easily have their own customized fundraising pages to raise money for your campaign. Donorbox Peer-to-Peer makes this process a breeze. You can simply toggle a switch on your crowdfunding campaign to make it a peer-to-peer one, and then invite your supporters from the tool to create child campaigns under your campaign. Learn more in our guide here.
Once you start your campaign, you must regularly connect with your volunteers and donors. Email is an excellent way to occasionally reach your supporters, but it’s best to send regular updates on your campaign and encouragement to volunteers via social media.
The frequency of your communication will depend on your Masjid. Before your campaign starts, you can develop a communication schedule to find the best way to reach different donor types. Personalize your communication, and don’t forget to respond to all messages from supporters.
After your mosque’s crowdfunding campaign, you cannot forget to thank your donors. Donorbox sends all donors an automatic donation receipt (including a customizable thank-you message) for their gifts.
Crowdfunding campaigns are more successful when appealing for specific projects and activities. Donors respond best to marketing that shares how their gifts can make a tangible difference. When creating your campaign, add donation amounts with details on how each gift will be used.
The Muslim American Community Association did an excellent job doing this with their Solar Panel Project. After sharing how solar panels will help the center and the community, MACA gives donors exact amounts to purchase a quarter, half, and full panel installation.
The best way to encourage volunteers and donors to participate in your crowdfunding campaign is with rewards. Get creative. You can hold a contest for the best fundraiser to excite volunteers and encourage them to continue to ask for donations.
You can also offer donors opportunities for community involvement and recognition on plaques or donor boards in exchange for their gifts.
During and after your event, you can thank donors and volunteers with Iftar dinners and other special events to thank them for their gifts.
What’s better than peer-to-peer fundraising when it comes to encouraging the community to participate in your crowdfunding campaign and help boost donations?
Use a simple-to-use peer-to-peer tool such as Donorbox Peer-to-Peer that’s also powerful enough to make fundraising convenient and effective for you – and your supporters!
Easily toggle a switch on your crowdfunding campaign to turn it into a peer-to-peer one. Now, invite your volunteers and donors to sign up and use (also customize!) their own fundraising pages to help you get more donations. This way, they will also boost your campaign outreach since more people from their networks will come to know about your campaign.
Donorbox Peer-to-Peer also lets you add an “I want to fundraise for this” button to your crowdfunding page so that anybody can choose to fundraise for your mosque.
Businesses in your community benefit from a strong Mosque. Take the time to reach out to these businesses and explain how your programs and projects can help them too.
Ask if they’d be willing to provide in-kind gifts, make donations, match your campaign donations up to a certain amount, or promote your campaign to their customers.
Keep a sponsorship packet handy before reaching out to corporations and businesses, so that they have a clear idea about the benefits they will receive.
Contact local leaders, Imams, scholars, and other respected individuals to help add seriousness to your campaign. An endorsement from a trusted leader can add credibility to your fundraising project and campaign.
Endorsements can also expand the reach of your campaign since many of their followers will be interested in the campaigns they endorse.
Islamic centers, community associations, and student groups can also help you spread the word about your campaign.
In this article, we’ve talked about Donorbox Crowdfunding and shown examples of how it has helped several Islamic charities and masjids crowdfund their projects. We understand that you’d want to learn more about this modern and effective Donorbox tool to be able to get started. Here’s a quick video guide for you:
Crowdfund for Your Mosque - Sign Up!
Crowdfunding campaigns may not be the first thing you think about to fund your mosque, but it has proven to be an excellent return on investment. Mosques and other religions must start to think outside the box to raise enough funds for the long run.
Crowdfunding campaigns can help raise necessary funds and inspire more supporters to actively participate in your mosque’s activities. Donorbox makes it easy for mosques of all sizes to run a crowdfunding campaign and use many other tools to boost donations with it. Learn about Donorbox and our other innovative tools and features for fundraising on the website.
Sign up today to start fundraising for your mosque.
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Kristine Ensor is a freelance writer with over a decade of experience working with local and international nonprofits. As a nonprofit professional she has specialized in fundraising, marketing, event planning, volunteer management, and board development.
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Kristine Ensor