As your masjid or Islamic charity prepares for Ramadan, do you have everything you need to easily collect donations? In this article, I'll share which types of donations to collect during Ramadan and the 12 best practices to inspire greater generosity.
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Every year, more than 2 billion Muslims globally observe Ramadan through fasting, reflection, and acts of charity.
This is a prime fundraising time for your masjid or Islamic charity to raise more money for important causes.
In this article, I’ll explain the Ramadan donation types and best practices to help you encourage more generosity during this holy month.
Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, is a time of fasting and charity. Those who are healthy and able fast from sunrise to sunset. Fasting is done for spiritual renewal and to better understand human suffering through compassion and charitable acts.
The holy month of Ramadan ends with a large celebration and fast-breaking with loved ones, called Eid al-Fitr.
Acts of charity during Ramadan are multiplied by 70 and returned as blessings to the giver. Any generous act made during this holy month, like donating, will be multiplied upon the giver.
Set up an online donation form using a fundraising platform like Donorbox to help you collect Ramadan donations online. This makes it easy for anyone to support your cause and give sadaqah (charity) faithfully.
Here are some best practices to keep in mind when setting up and accepting donations using your form:
See how the Qalam Institute raised over $1.3 million for their Ramadan campaign created with Donorbox:
Most people don’t carry cash anymore. By removing any barriers to giving, you enable the ummah (Muslim community) to give sadaqah and receive multiplied rewards for their charitable contributions.
Make cashless in-person giving easy by setting up a donation kiosk at your masjid or Islamic organization so people can donate quickly.
In-person fundraising software like the Donorbox Live™ Kiosk app makes the process seamless. This app transforms your tablet or Android smartphone into a powerful donation magnet (and it’s coming soon to iOS).
Donors can give swiftly using credit/debit cards and digital wallets. All donations received will then appear on your Donorbox dashboard, so you can track and manage donation records effectively.
Set Up Your Donation Kiosk for Ramadan
Tracking your donations will keep you agile so you can raise more money. By analyzing your progress toward your Ramadan fundraising goal, you’ll be able to determine if you need to try a new strategy.
Sort your transactions by campaign using an efficient donor management tool to review the progress of your Ramadan campaign.
In addition, run reports to analyze data on new donors, donors who gave last year but not this year, and more. This gives you an in-depth look at your fundraising over time, aiding your strategizing during Ramadan fundraising.
Ramadan fundraising events are an excellent way to raise money for your cause. For example, iftars and fast-a-thons are great for community building while encouraging donations that support your important work.
Use an event ticketing tool like Donorbox Events to help you sell more tickets for your fundraising event using an attractive online events page.
Check out how Our Ummah used Donorbox Events to sell tickets to their Ramadan event:
While it’s not appropriate to ask for donations during prayer, consider making your ask before or after prayer.
Pro tip: Jumu’ah, the Friday prayer, is an especially good time to ask for donations. Ask the ummah to reflect on this holy month and why they should donate.
Recurring donors give the same amount regularly at a preset donation interval. This type of feature helps someone automate their fidya or kaffarah donations, or increase their sadaqah during Ramadan.
For example, Donorbox allows you to include up to four donation intervals on your donation form, with seven recurring intervals to choose from. Once someone signs up for recurring giving, they can log in to their own Donorbox account and manage their recurring plan at anytime.
See how the Muslim American Society Bronx Center used recurring donations to encourage more giving during the last 10 nights of Ramadan. They used the “Daily” interval and compelling text to inspire the ummah to make a recurring donation:
Collect Recurring Donations with Donorbox
Crowdfunding during Ramadan provides supporters with more opportunities to give and uses social proof to inspire additional donations.
To increase social proof, include a donor wall on your crowdfunding campaign so donors can leave comments when donating. And, post regular campaign updates to encourage more giving while engaging supporters.
UKeff used Donorbox’s crowdfunding tools, including a goal meter, to encourage more donations for their Eid Gift Appeal.
Create a Crowdfunding Campaign
Donor stewardship requires prompt, thoughtful gratitude from the masjids and charities receiving a donation. Someone who feels like their gift was appreciated is more likely to give again.
Platforms like Donorbox make expressing gratitude effortless with automated, tax-compliant receipts that include customizable thank-you messages to suit your campaign.
With peer-to-peer giving, you can enable your supporters to fundraise on your behalf.
Asking your supporters to fundraise for you during Ramadan is a great idea since the act of fundraising is a good deed and will be multiplied and returned to them as blessings.
Fundraising tools like Donorbox Peer-to-Peer let you invite supporters to customize their campaign pages through email, or allow anyone to sign up to fundraise from your main campaign.
For example, International Aid Charity raised $331,830.80 for their earthquake relief campaign created with Donorbox, surpassing their fundraising goal of $250,000:
They allowed anyone to fundraise on their behalf by clicking the button on their fundraising page.
Personal connection encourages more donations, so reaching out to your major donors during Ramadan can help you raise more money.
For these kinds of personal appeals, remember to track those communications so you don’t reach out to the same person too often or not enough.
Ramadan is all about daily sacrifice and reflection. So make it easy for your donors to give again and again during this holy month.
Here are some features provided by Donorbox that make giving fast and frictionless during Ramadan:
Giving a little every day is what Ramadan is all about, so make it easy for the ummah to do so.
Since there are many Ramadan donation types, be as clear as possible about what kinds of donations you’re accepting – and where.
For example, adding donation designations to your donation form empowers the ummah to indicate where their gift should go – for example, zakat al-fitr and fidya.
Bonus Resource: Watch our webinar with Sarah Ali, Executive Director of the Muslim Philanthropy Network, to discover key fundraising strategies to help you double your donations this Ramadan.
Sadaqah is a non-obligatory act of charity made completely out of the goodness of one’s heart.
This type of charity can be given at any time, but is often solicited during Ramadan so the giver can benefit from the multiplied blessings.
Muslims also believe that giving sadaqah erases some of their sins.
On the other hand, zakat is an obligatory donation for Muslims whose wealth exceeds the nisab threshold. They must donate a set amount at least once per lunar year.
Zakat can be collected all at once, in installments through recurring donations, or during Ramadan.
A special obligatory form of zakat known as zakat al-fitr is donated during Ramadan by anyone who has food in excess. Each person in a household that has a surplus of food is required to give either food or a monetary contribution to those in need.
See how the Muslim Community of Knoxville used Donorbox to collect zakat al-fitr. They included different designations – such as zakat al-fitr – for the ummah to allocate their gift accordingly.
Collect Ramadan Donations with Donorbox
Those who are unable to fast due to health or other reasons can “make up” for missing the fast by paying fidya.
Fidya is used by masjids and Islamic charities to provide food for the less fortunate.
Similar to fidya, kaffarah is a payment made when someone doesn’t fast, but also doesn’t have a valid reason to skip fasting.
It’s important to stay on top of paying kaffarah and fidya throughout the month of Ramadan to account for any days of missed fasting.
Laylat al-Qadr is the Night of Power, when the Quran was first sent down from heaven and revealed by the Prophet Muhammad.
Any act of charity performed on this holy night is said to be like performing it for 83 years continuously, and Allah rewards you likewise.
The last 10 days of Ramadan are considered the holiest days of all. This is when more worship and acts of charity are encouraged.
Although this period includes Laylat al-Qadr, the entire ten-day period is a time when Ramadan giving is at its peak.
According to Donorbox data, the average daily dollars raised during Ramadan 2025 increased by 84% in the last 10 days, and the average daily donation volume increased by 59%, too.
Donations are often made during iftar, the daily meal held after sunset to break the fast during Ramadan.
Donating during iftar recognizes those who don’t have food and is a way of honoring God. It also shows your gratitude for having food to eat.
It’s common to raise money so others can experience iftar, the way Hikmah Relief did here:
Ramadan is a time of sacrifice, celebration, and charity. It’s also the best time for your organization to ask for additional donations that help you better serve the ummah.
Whether you’re collecting zakat al-fitr, fidya, or other Ramadan donations, these 12 best practices can inspire even more generosity during Ramadan.
Thousands of mosques and Islamic charities trust Donorbox to help them fundraise throughout the year. If you haven’t already, sign up today to start raising more for your cause.
For more fundraising tips, check out the Nonprofit Blog and Donorbox’s YouTube channel.
Lindsey spent years wearing many hats in the nonprofit world. Whether she was helping arts nonprofits with their messaging and content, planning a fundraising gala, writing an NEA grant proposal, or running a membership program with over 400 members, she learned how to navigate – and appreciate! – the fast-paced world of fundraising. Now, she loves sharing those hard-earned lessons with the Donorbox community.
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