HOW TO CROWDFUND GOOD?

Little by little, we learn there are many ways to spread good. I recently had a sit-down with Umar Munshi (EthisCrowd) and we had a fine chat. About his new project, Sadaqa House with Bank Islam, which aims to collect donations to support good causes, such as funding for a child’s operation (with the National Heart Institute of Malaysia), and other small infrastructure projects. Some of the causes are well funded, but some still fall short. But what it shows is that; if the cause is believably genuine, it may well get to raise the funds it needs.

This initiative is not so much different from the Tabarru’ concept of Takaful, which means mutual assistance using donations, and it can achieve so much more than Takaful.The idea of Takaful is “the many contributors helping the few“. Here, in the EthisCrowd space, the understanding is that it is “the many contributors helping the one“. For example the funding of the operation’s cost of a heart patient (child) where the contributors of funds are asked to fund the cost of getting heart treatment. It is basically a rougher/simpler form of Takaful.

Well I say job well done, and this is testament to the power and innovation of Islamic structures  where it can go further than just collections, finance and banking functions. It espouses the concept of mutual assistance and takes it to the next level of donation-giving. It is purposeful, transparent and convenient. My first experience was that the whole process of donating is seamless and easy. I urge friends to give Global Sadaqa and Sadaqa House a try and maybe spread a little cheer to the needy. The initiatives are simple and it helps spreads goodness in people’s heart (no pun intended!).

I do applaud the efforts by EthisCrowd because it does really provide an alternative platform where there is funding facilities outside the safe confines of a banking institution. With Global Sadaqah, hopefully charity is taken to a new, higher level where donations are hard to come by (as they provide no monetary gain to customers). This is where appealing to someone’s religious or moral consideration play its part in attracting individuals keen on doing good, even from Non-Muslims individuals. At the moment, they have amassed a huge number of followers / community to support their initiative, regardless of race and religion.

But most of all, this platform is easy to use and this is what Islamic fintech should be; to provide easy & mobile access to the unbanked segment while adhering to the requirements of Shariah for solutions that work.

Hopefully we see more spreading good initiatives championed by Islamic Banking entities and Institution that cares about the growth of Islamic finance while helping communities. May we find more ways to see these initiatives become successful in the future. Wallahualam.