21 LaunchGood Campaigns from Around the World to Inspire Your 2018 Ramadan Challenge
Ramadan, in addition to being a month of fasting, is a time of giving and charity for Muslims around the world. Last Ramadan, Launchgood, the largest faith rooted crowdfunding platform in the world, raised nearly $2 million during their annual Ramadan Challenge- helping 400+ campaigns! The Ramadan Challenge features impactful campaigns on each day of the holy month. Here are some highlights:
1. Muslims United for Portland Heroes
Celebrate Mercy — Portland, Oregon
When young Muslim women were threatened on a train in Portland three men stood up against hate. Two of those men were killed and one was injured defending women from anti-Muslim harassment. After this tragedy on the first day of Ramadan 2017, Celebrate Mercy began a campaign to raise $60,000 for the families of the heroes. The global community rallied in honor of the heroic men and raised $609,724 for the families of the fallen.
2. Once Upon a Golden Time: The Magnificent Elephant Clock
Qirtas — Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Founded to shed light on the greatest inventions of the Islamic Golden Age, Qirtas, allows you to own and tinker with the profoundly innovative works of art and engineering directly! 800 years ago, Al Jazri, an inventor, engineer, and artist created the Elephant Clock — a sophisticated engineering device used to read time via water power inside the elephant belly! The elaborate structure also symbolically integrated various cultures: India (elephant), Ancient Egypt (phoenix), China (serpents), Arab (figures) with all the pieces working together in harmony.
The $23,985 funded the development of the Elephant Clock package, providing a hands-on experience interacting with a simplified version of the invention. The 3D wooden puzzle comes with a visual guide that reveals glimpses of this history and takes you through a step-by-step journey to building your model. The Elephant Clock is only the first in a series of inventions being developed that will allow youth to creatively engage with and learn about Islamic scientific heritage.
3. Sounds of Hope II: Language & Sound for Deaf Child Refugees
Deaf Planet Soul — Beirut , Lebanon
In an effort to expand their project to help bring sign language and hearing aids to deaf refugee children from Syria and Palestine, Deaf Planet Soul launched their “Sounds of Hope,” campaign. Donors from around the world raised $86,587 to provide hearing aids, sign language coloring books and flashcards to refugee children in the Middle East.
4. Rebuild the Santa Barbara Mosque
The Islamic Society of Santa Barbara — Santa Barbara, California
Last year the Santa Barbara Mosque’s temporary rented space caught fire and the Muslim community was without a home for Ramadan in 2017. Led by donations on LaunchGood from around the world we helped them raise $231,195 dollars for their permanent home. A year later, the new Santa Barbara Mosque is nearly complete.
5. Building a Netflix Competitor for Muslim Kids
Ali Huda — Denmark/USA
After raising $30,541 in the 2017 Ramadan Challenge, Ali Huda was able to launch a streaming service providing commercial free movies, television tv shows and cartoons for Muslim Kids around the world.
6. Crowdfunding 2,000 Books Behind Bars
Tayba Foundation — Hayward, California
In 2017 Tayba Foundation served 1400 students incarcerated in the United States with structured Islamic education, but the demand was so great they had to put 600 more on the waiting list due to lack of funds. Every individual who has applied to the Tayba Foundation program is hungry for knowledge and treasures each book like a “piece of light.” The community was able to show incarcerated Muslims that they are not forgotten by raising $81,340 to provide books to every Muslim who applied to Tayba’s Distance Learning Program!
7. For Nabra
All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS) — Sterling, Virginia
17 year old Nabra Hassanen was found brutally murdered in her hometown of Sterling, Virginia during Ramadan of 2017. The community came together to support her family in the wake of their tragic loss. $376,619 in funds were raised to alleviate some of their financial stress and allow the family to begin healing.
8. Feed 7000 Hungry American Families
Islamic Relief USA — Texas, California, Virginia, New Jersey, and Michigan
1 in 7 Americans faces hunger. Islamic Relief USA raised $86,193 through the 2017 Ramadan Campaign to feed 7,000 hungry families across Texas, California, Virginia, New Jersey, and Michigan by providing 280,000 pounds of food. Islamic Relief continues to feed the hungry through projects such as the Thanksgiving meal sponsor campaign.
9. Create jobs for Palestinian refugee women
A Child’s Cup Full Association — West Bank, Palestine
Last year $37,097 was raised by A Child’s Cup Full Association to support training and employment programs for refugee and low-income Palestinian women artisans while simultaneously preserving Palestinian cultural heritage. This includes training in the ancient cultural art of tatreez- centuries-old Palestinian embroidery, traditionally passed down from mother to daughter. The funds raised in the Ramadan Challenge allowed Darzah to to train and employ at least six more refugee and low-income women artisans in Palestine, and start building the Tatreez Archive- the world’s largest online database of tatreez motifs. Their goal is invite the 10 million Palestinians around the world to submit motifs from their own family heirlooms.
10. Support Victims of Grenfell Tower Block Fire
The Grenfell Muslim Response Unit — London, England
On Tuesday June 14th, 2017 a huge fire raged through the night at the residential Grenfell Tower block in London, trapping people inside. The Grenfell Muslim Response Unit came together with LaunchGood to help raise £54,093 GBP in funds to rebuild lives, support victims and their families affected in the West London Fire. The campaign money was used to provide food, clothing, toiletries, and essentials to be directly distributed to help the victims and their families.
11. Safe Home for Muslim Women
National Zakat Foundation — Windsor, Ontario Canada
Nisa Homes, a project of the National Zakat Foundation, wanted to open up its third location in Windsor, Ontario Canada, to provide a safe home for women and children and help getting back on their feet as they overcome challenges such as domestic violence, being refugees, poverty, and homelessness. The city of Windsor hosts one of Canada’s largest Muslim populations per capita.
The $114,960 Canadian Dollars raised in the Ramadan Challenge covered the setup cost and expenses for the first year of the new Windsor house! Nisa Homes is the first and only group of transitional homes in Canada for Muslim women.
12. Help for Humanity: 3rd Annual Rice Distribution in Senegal
Nasrul Ilm America — Dakar, Senegal
Help for Humanity, started by a group of African American Muslim students, strives to continue the legacy of Shaykh Hassan Cisse by addressing the problem of hunger, one family at a time.
Help for Humanity has distributed more than ten tons (23,000 lbs) of rice to hungry children, parents, and adults in Senegal. By raising $41,111 in its 3rd annual Ramadan Challenge campaign, Help for Humanity was able to feed 100 families each month for the entire year.
13. Qalam Seminary: Traditional Education in a Modern Context
Al-Qalam Foundation — Arlington, Texas
Focused on providing a accessible and practical Islamic education to all those who seek it, Al Qalam Foundation was able to raise $116,270 during the 2017 Ramadan Challenge to support scholarships for 20 full-time students, including tuition and books. A practical and relatable education rooted in the Qur’an and teachings of the Prophet (pbuh) for future imams, youth directors and leaders benefits the community at large.
14. Home For Orphan Girls in Lahore, Pakistan
H.O.M.E. International (Honoring Orphans with Mercy and Education)- Lahore, Pakistan
In an effort to expand an orphanage project that began as a small loving home offering five orphan girls from Kashmir education, shelter, food, healthcare and hope for a better future, LaunchGood helped founders Sister Kuralay and Brother Mohammad Rasul raise $69,771 last Ramadan. The project expands the small home to add 15 new bedrooms for 30 more girls, 10 new classrooms for a school and 5 large rooms for training and vocational center for orphans and widows. The additional 12,000 square feet provides a better future for more girls.
15. Sitara School and Teachers’ Institute
Sitara Institute — Chatha Bakhtawar, Pakistan
Founded in 2011, Sitara School and Teachers’ Institute has provided free education to needy children and aspiring teachers in Chatha Bakhtawar, Pakistan. The $30,661 raised during the Ramadan Challenge bought brand new tablets and many new library books and allowed the institute to build four new classrooms, a small lab in one of the rooms for the required high school science curriculum, and the expansion made room to enroll some of the students on the waiting list. Sitara is still accepting funds for the high school as the institute continues to expand.
16. Relieve Debt for Syrian refugees on Chicago’s South Side!
Sirat Chicago — Chicago, Illinois
The Syrian conflict is one of the worst refugee crises in modern history. Five Syrian families, made up of thirty people, moved to Chicago to rebuild their lives. The community came together to raise $54,181 to help them pay off their refugee travel loans, attend adult ESL classes for Arabic speakers, access emergency funds and improve their career outcomes-completely relieving the families’ debt and empowering them to establish their new lives in Chicago.
17. Save A Life In Yemen
Noor Research — Yemen
The humanitarian crisis in Yemen has left 17 million people facing severe food insecurity and famine. A simple donation of $30 would provide a one month food supply to a family. Last Ramadan the Noor Foundation reached out to the community through the Ramadan Challenge and successfully raised $61,111 — providing 3500 food baskets feeding about 17500 persons covering wide and hard to reach geographic areas. Do to the success of the campaign and the increased need in Yemen, the The Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation was established to continue serving needy families.
18. Rebuild Village Alhamdulillah!
Jabalu-Nur Foundation, Inc/ Ummology — Burkina Faso, West Africa
Village AlhamdulIllah in Burkina Faso, West Africa has a population of 8,000 yet no school for the children. The closest school is 90 miles away. 97% of the children are illiterate. In an effort to change that, Jabalu-Nur Foundation, Inc raised $139,134 through the Ramadan Campaign to so that Village InshaAllah could build a school to teach Reading, Writing, Science, Math, Qur’an and Islamic Studies.
19. READ Foundation’s School For Needy & Orphan Children
READ Foundation — Basnara Village, Pakistan Administered Kashmir
Since its foundation in 2002, READ Foundation’s school in Basnara has grown from 23 students to a student population of 280. Yet the school building is woefully run down — lacking basics such as electricity, and water and sanitation facilities. The $308,491 raised in the Ramadan Challenge is helping build a a brand new school for 400 poverty-stricken refugee children from kindergarten through middle secondary in Basnara Village.
The new facilities will include new fully furnished classrooms, safe drinking water and washroom facilities, a science laboratory, new computer equipment, solar panels and battery system to generate renewable energy for the school building, and additional teaching aids and materials to support the children’s learning. This enhanced and safer learning environment will facilitate a higher standard of education for the children of Basnara, as well as equip them with the skills and aspiration to avail opportunities for a better life.
20. This Ramadan help Revolutionize Access to Islamic Education Using Visual Learning
Darul Arqam Studios — Indonesia
In response to the huge demand for visual learning and use of animations and illustrations to teach Quran, Islam Darul Arqam Studios began producing 1 animation video per week to make Quranic education universal, free, state of the art and globally accessible. To propel their project, they enlisted the help of LaunchGood to raise $447,338 and are now about to produce 2 new animations every 3 days and a free online TV service — Free Quran Education — which is accessible worldwide.
21. Your Campaign for Ramadan Challenge 2018!
LaunchGood’s Ramadan Challenge is a unique opportunity to get your social good project launched and supported by a global community of people who want to make the world a better place.
Get started on your campaign today
