Ready to raise more during the holy month? Because donations made during Ramadan are returned as blessings upon the giver, this season is the perfect time for your masjid or charity to fundraise. Read on to learn 11 fantastic ways to raise more this Ramadan!
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and is observed by Muslims worldwide. During Ramadan, Muslims fast as a way to commemorate the first revelation of the Quran to the Prophet Muhammad. As one of the five pillars of Islam, fasting during Ramadan is accompanied by increased spiritual reflection, worship, and acts of charity.
It’s also useful to elaborate on the concept of Zakat. Zakat is similar to the concept of tithing for Christians and refers to compulsory charitable donations. Zakat requires Muslims to pay 2.5% of their qualifying wealth to ‘the poor and needy’.
Many Muslims choose to pay their Zakat during the month of Ramadan. In 2021, Muslim Americans made a whopping donation of $1.8 billion to domestic and international causes during Ramadan. Moreover, the average household gave over $2,000 to charity.
With so much potential for fundraising during this time, your organization would want to reach out to people through unique ideas and events.
Read on for 11 excellent ways to raise more during Ramadan. For a more in-depth look at Ramadan donation types, check out this blog!
In order to raise the most amount of funds for a good cause during Ramadan, make sure you create a dedicated Ramadan donation page.
Having a donation landing page dedicated specifically to your Ramadan fundraising campaign will increase the chances of you reaching your fundraising goals.
When your supporters land on your site, your donation page should convince them that they should give to your nonprofit this Ramadan. This page should be simple, compelling, and branded. Have a clear call to action to help donate this Ramadan.
Have sharing links set up so that anyone who wishes to do so can easily share the page with their friends and family on their social media profiles.
With Donorbox, you can easily sign up and create unlimited fundraising pages that are customizable to fit your brand and needs. This page comes with a customizable donation form that is donor-friendly and superfast. You can also add a goal thermometer, donor wall, social media buttons, campaign content, images, videos, and more to your page.
Check out this example of a Ramadan fundraising page created on Donorbox by Qalam Education Fund.
Start a Ramadan Fundraising Campaign!
Zakat is a duty of every Muslim if their personal wealth is above nisab or the threshold/cut-off amount. It can be very tricky to calculate the nisab and the Zakat amount.
To increase the number of donations you receive this Ramadan, make it easy for your donors to donate by either embedding or linking a Zakat calculator on your donation page.
To really go the extra mile, you can link specific program outcomes to different giving levels.
E.g. “$250 can help a family in the Philippines start a small business” or “$50 will provide 10 girls with a month’s worth of sanitary products”
Pro tip: Your online Ramadan donation is likely to be seen by people who are not looking to make a Zakat donation. They just want to donate generally. Make these potential supporters feel like they can also easily make a non-Zakat donation in response to an appeal.
Look at this Zakat online campaign from IslamIreland.ie that urges people to come forward and pay their Zakat. The campaign content also precisely explains the calculation of nisab. This should be a great inspiration for your Ramadan campaign.
During Ramadan, many are keen to volunteer their time – especially since it helps pass the hours until sunset (when Muslims around the world break their fasting).
Don’t underestimate people giving their time. It’s not only the monetary donations that can have an impact. Volunteers can help your nonprofit save money, provide better support to beneficiaries, increase contact with the greater community, and make available better expertise.
Volunteers, since they’re so engaged with your nonprofit, can easily become donors in the future.
To really get the most out of it, make sure your volunteering event is relevant to your cause. For example, if your nonprofit is an animal shelter, you could organize an animal care day where volunteers help feed, wash, groom, and play with the animals.
Your volunteers will also help spread the word about your organization. This can bring in more donations, supporters, and employees. Finally, you’ll also strengthen your organization’s image in your community and create awareness about your mission.
Iftar is one of the religious observances of Ramadan and is often done as a community, with people gathering to break their fast together. Iftar is taken just after the call to prayer Maghrib, which is around sunset. Being such a community practice/tradition, iftars are perfect for fundraising.
Organize a community iftar at a venue of your choice. Depending on the size of your organization, choose either something small and local or go big and festive.
Prepare a tasty menu, offering options for all dietary choices and requirements. Invite your donors, supporters, partners, volunteers, and staff to break the fast together or simply celebrate the spirit of Ramadan.
There are many ways in which you could raise additional funds during your Iftar event. In addition to charging for entry, you could set up donation kiosks with card readers throughout the venue where donors could make additional donations in cash or using a credit card. You could even include Islamic lectures as part of your event to attract more participants.
If you want to take it up a notch, you can also look for sponsors. Take a look at this live example from Hikmah Relief, where they have utilized this Donorbox fundraising page to accept sponsorships for their Iftar at an orphanage.
Set Up a Fundraising Page Now!
During Ramadan, Muslims abstain from eating any food, drinking any liquids, smoking cigarettes, and engaging in any sexual activity, from dawn to sunset. They are also supposed to try to curb negative thoughts and emotions like jealousy and anger, and even lesser things like swearing, complaining, and gossiping, during the month.
This is why Ramadan is a great time to launch a “Give Something Up” campaign. You could ask your donors to give up takeaways, coffee, driving, chocolate, or shopping during Ramadan and donate that money to your nonprofit.
Not only will donors get a chance to kick a bad habit, but they will feel great for supporting a good cause. Win-win!
Peer-to-peer fundraising is one of the best Ramadan fundraising ideas to get new donors and boost donations. Not only are your supporters reaching out to people you might not otherwise have reached, but their campaigns have social proof. Since their friends and family know your fundraisers, they are more likely to donate to them than directly to your nonprofit.
Ramadan is the ideal time to encourage your best supporters including donors and volunteers to help you raise more money. Enable them to create their own fundraising pages and reach out to their networks. It’s a great way to boost donations and also make your supporters feel more involved in your cause.
Choose an online tool that’s simple to use and understand – such as Donorbox Peer-to-Peer. Now, invite your volunteers from the tool and help them fundraise with their own customized fundraising pages. Peer-to-peer fundraising ensures that your campaign outreach is multiplied through your volunteers’ networks and that you receive more donations through their support. It also helps bring in more donors to your organization.
Check out this example – International Aid Charity raised nearly $54,000 in peer-to-peer donations through the below campaign. Their total donations to the campaign surpassed their goal during the time of Ramadan.
Islamic charities or mosques should set up a donation kiosk at their location or events. It makes in-person giving simple and convenient for people during Ramadan. In the present times, you cannot expect your visitors or supporters to carry cash anymore. Hence, having a portable donation kiosk at your location makes accepting cashless donations easier than ever.
The Donorbox Live™ Kiosk app helps you quickly set up a donation kiosk. All you need are an iPad or Android tablet and a card reader device. The app will easily turn your tablet into a donation kiosk and enable donors to use their credit/debit cards or their digital wallets to make a swift donation. These kiosk donations also automatically go into the Donorbox database, making it easy for you to keep track of them.
Sign Up for Donorbox Live™ Kiosk!
Look for corporate, non-corporate, or even government sponsors who will match the donations that your donors make.
Employers also often offer their employees a matching-gift incentive to encourage charitable giving. Sometimes, they even extend their matching program to include donations made by an employee’s spouse or by retired employees.
Donorbox has partnered with Double the Donation, the leading corporate giving data company, to give your donors the best employer matching experience. You will be able to enable donation matching for a campaign and add the search widget to the donation form. You also get to copy the widget code and paste it in your website to embed it on your nonprofit website.
Donation matching campaigns can double, triple, or even quadruple the number of donations your nonprofit receives. This also helps multiply the impact of your Ramadan campaign.
Video appeals or storytelling videos can be an incredibly powerful tool for fundraising.
In 2022, 82% of global internet traffic came from video content. On the other hand, viewers say that they are able to retain 95% of a message when they source it from a video.
These are only some of the reasons why your nonprofit should invest in a fundraising strategy that utilizes video.
Create a video that will show your donors who they’ll be helping and what their money will be going towards. Storytelling works best with videos. If you have the resources, hire a professional videographer to create one including your beneficiaries. If you create a good video and then distribute it via an effective social media strategy, the return on investment will be higher.
However, to see the impact of video, use it as an ongoing means of communication, not a one-off project.
Check this live example of a crowdfunding campaign on Donorbox, which includes a touching video of people who are in need of support.
Runs or walks are not only healthy for your participants but are also a very visible way of publicizing your charitable cause to the wider community in addition to raising money.
You can either encourage your participants to do the runs themselves on a route they themselves select.
Otherwise, you can organize an event. Common route distances for charity events are 5k, 10k, Half Marathon, and Marathon. Considering many Muslims fast during Ramadan, an easier distance and route (like a 5k on flat terrain) might be the most appropriate. Organize volunteer committees to handle promoting the race, soliciting donations, setting up the course, and welcoming runners.
To raise money, charge runners for participation, but also look for sponsors. Ask businesses to donate money or supplies for the race. In exchange for their support, offer to put their logos on promotional materials. For example, businesses could sponsor aid station tables, cups for water, t-shirts, refreshments, and offer gift bag items.
Ask your participants to create their own fundraising pages through and utilize peer-to-peer fundraising for bringing in more donations. Create your peer-to-peer fundraising page on Donorbox and invite your participants from there. Alternatively, just add the “I want to fundraise for this” button to your campaign so that anybody can sign up to fundraise and participate in your run. Donorbox peer-to-peer fundraising pages also list your top fundraisers, thus doubling up a source of social proof.
Contribution request letters can be an exceptionally effective tactic for Ramadan fundraising. Make sure to prospect well and inform yourself before reaching out.
Make your contribution request letters personal and meaningful and try to have them handwritten, if possible.
Handwritten letters can have a big impact on showing the potential donor that you appreciate them. They also show that you invested time and effort to reach out to them. In cases when it’s not realistic to handwrite every single letter, reproduce the handwritten letter and then distribute it.
You can also send out letters to businesses and corporations, not only to individuals. These letters are generally referred to as ‘sponsorship request letters’.
In addition to this, you can also attempt phone solicitation. Although phone calls and letters might seem old-fashioned to some, there are still some donors that prefer this type of solicitation, and whom you might not otherwise reach using digital marketing.
Ramadan is a very special time of the year for Muslims around the world. In addition to fulfilling their religious duty by fasting, Muslims are looking to do good in their communities.
This presents an invaluable opportunity for raising more funds, championing your mission and increasing your positive impact. It is also, however, important to remember to respect this sacred time for Muslims. Triple-check your messaging during Ramadan. Try not to ‘guilt-trip’ your donors or to make Ramadan only about the financial contributions.
We hope our Ramadan fundraising ideas and insights will help you make a positive impact on the world by raising more funds for your programs and initiatives.
Donorbox is there to make this journey easy for you – with our powerful yet simple fundraising and donor management features! Learn more on our website and sign up for free to start fundraising right away!
Discover more fundraising ideas and tips, nonprofit best practices, and free resources on the Donorbox Nonprofit Blog. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a collection of these resources directly in your inbox every month.
Raviraj heads the sales and marketing team at Donorbox. His growth-hacking abilities have helped Donorbox boost fundraising efforts for thousands of nonprofit organizations.
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