We do have a page in Arabic for non-English readers. However, an important part of building trust with zakat givers is transparency and directness (donor=>GiveDirectly=>Yemeni recipient). Rather than market/collect zakat through another organization as a pass-through, we opted to stick with the simplicity that has appealed to other donors. UNHCR is a secular organization with a successful zakat campaign marketed under their name, albeit a much more famous name than GiveDirectly.
Another way we plan to bridge the gap: working with Muslim groups and influencers to share the campaign.
It could just be that UNHCR has a unique leverage as a UN organisation—maybe they are seen as impartial or a benevolent international organisation.
As a Muslim, I would suggest partnerships with existing Islamic charities such as Islamic Relief. You can leverage their brand as well as encourage them to explore more effective interventions in the longer term. I acknowledge there might be some pushback due to vested interests; however, I think it’s worth a try
FYI—I’m keen for this to work. I’m currently raising awareness to a Muslim audience on effective giving—happy to help however I possibly can.
“As a secular NGO, GiveDirectly may struggle to gain traction with Muslim donors”I strongly agree with this.
Isn’t an obvious solution to market the Zakat compliant fund under a different name than Give Directly?
(Obvious choice would be whatever “Give Directly” is in Arabic)
We do have a page in Arabic for non-English readers. However, an important part of building trust with zakat givers is transparency and directness (donor=>GiveDirectly=>Yemeni recipient). Rather than market/collect zakat through another organization as a pass-through, we opted to stick with the simplicity that has appealed to other donors. UNHCR is a secular organization with a successful zakat campaign marketed under their name, albeit a much more famous name than GiveDirectly.
Another way we plan to bridge the gap: working with Muslim groups and influencers to share the campaign.
It could just be that UNHCR has a unique leverage as a UN organisation—maybe they are seen as impartial or a benevolent international organisation.
As a Muslim, I would suggest partnerships with existing Islamic charities such as Islamic Relief. You can leverage their brand as well as encourage them to explore more effective interventions in the longer term. I acknowledge there might be some pushback due to vested interests; however, I think it’s worth a try
FYI—I’m keen for this to work. I’m currently raising awareness to a Muslim audience on effective giving—happy to help however I possibly can.