Updated on 29/06/2010

On 26 May 2010, The World Federation of KSIMC Assistant Secretary General for Marketing and Communications, Sadiq Datoo, and the NGO Development Manager, Imran Janmohamed participated in the Muslim Charities Forum (MCF) workshop on Communication, Marketing & Fundraising. The event was held at the Directory of Social Change, London and was attended by 30 individuals from 15 different Muslim NGOs. The speakers invited to attend were from Media Trust, MADE in Europe and Charities Aid Foundation.  The aim of the workshop was to show how charities can communicate and fundraise more effectively via tools such as the internet, social networking and online videos.

The day began with an introduction by the Chairman of the MCF, Dr. Hany El-Banna OBE who gave an overview of the day. The early morning session was focused on communication by Joanna Inskip, Community Newswire Editor, and Marketing by Isabel Evans, Marketing Manager; both from Media Trust. 

Joanna Inskip demonstrated the importance of reputation communication and the power and influence the media has in how messages are delivered and received. She discussed the benefits of working with the media and how newspapers, radio and television can be an extremely effective tool in communicating   needs and reaching the right audience. Information technology, social networking, online news stories, photos and videos can also have a huge impact. The delegates where questioned on why, how, when and who they should work with in the media to communicate their message more accurately and efficiently. 

Susanna Pickering-Saqqah works alongside Muslim organisations to fight global poverty and engage young people in mainstream international development. Susannah is a lecturer in International Development & NGO Management at the University of East London and also specialises in partnership building and communications. Susanna discussed  how charities can benefit from partnerships and links with other organisations. Working with banks, other development agencies, jewellery makers, charitable trusts and corporate donors can enhance the companies profile and lead to positive media coverage. Building strong relationships with donors develops long-term security. The presentation also highlighted the importance of communication between partners.  For partnerships to work there needs to be consistency, mutual respect, shared common goals, openness commitment and flexibility.

Panikos Efthimiou, a training Manager from the Charities Aid Foundation focused discussions on developing fundraising strategies for organisations. Delegates were informed on the importance of a fundraising strategy and developing a case for support and demonstrate impact, i.e. how the money raised is helping those in need. He also outlined all the different potential sources of income, from individual donors to companies, trusts, grants, lottery, companies and the internet and how to recruit, nurture and maintain these donors. Mr. Efthimiou forced charities to analyse their needs, objectives, short term & long term goals, finances and profile to identify the best fundraising strategy that fits their organisation.

Furthermore Panikos highlighted the importance of tax efficient giving as another important source of income. Gift aid, payroll giving, shares and legacies are the main forms of tax efficient giving. He demonstrated how organisations can best use these tax efficient giving methods to raise more funds for their charity and the benefits of keeping a clear audit trail when reclaiming tax. In conclusion the delegates have better knowledge and understanding of reach potential donors and improve their fundraising techniques.

The Assistant Secretary General for Marketing and Communications, Sadiq Datoo said “Attending the workshop proved to be very useful as we gained several tips and tools that we look forward in using and implementing to improve how we work day to day as well as long-term .”

The NGO Development Manager, Imran Janmohamed, said, “This workshop was an excellent overview of various methods and strategies of improving marketing and communications within charitable organisations. Our hope is to use these tools to build on the strategies The World Federation has already in place.”

The World Federation has listed various documents and tools for the development and benefit of our community organisations. 

Links:

The World Federation NGO Resource Page
The Muslim Charities Forum

For further information email ngo@world-federation.org