Donation Policy Statement
Zamzami’s donation policy ensures that 100 percent of all designated contributions for specific programs or emergency responses are used only on expenses related to supporting that program or response.
By clarifying that Zamzami may use your contribution wherever most needed, you allow the organization to strengthen the long–term aid programmes that are vital to vulnerable people around the world and respond to emergencies that do not receive widespread attention. Zamzami commits to spend your money in the most productive, efficient way possible.
If you wish to restrict the use of your donation only for a specific purpose or area, Zamzami will honour that wish or tell you that it cannot and offer to return your contribution. Zamzami has not and will not collect money for what may appear to be a specific incident or purpose with the intention of using it for other purposes.
Ensuring donor intent
To ensure that donors have the ability to communicate their intention regarding a gift, Zamzami’s online donation page allows people to provide instruction for how a donation is to be allocated among Zamzami’s various program activities, including specific emergencies. Other methods of contributions, such as by cheque or BAC’s transfer that include a notation in Cheque line or accompanying correspondence also will be considered as instruction to restrict the gift for particular program activities.
How is funding for emergencies handled?
Zamzami’s policy ensures that 100 percent of all designated contributions for specific programs or emergency responses are used only on expenses related to supporting that program or response.
This policy applies to all of Zamzami's disaster responses around the world. • Zamzami believes this is appropriate for honouring precisely the clear intent of generous donors who responded to these tragedies and to preserve the maximum benefit for the survivors for whose benefit the funds were entrusted to Zamzami.
Zamzami practices have long recognized the importance of enabling donors to communicate their intentions regarding donations and explaining how the organization carefully accounts for and uses designated contributions to honour the donors’ intentions. Zamzami takes several steps to ensure that both donors’ intentions and the organization’s use of contributions are clear.
Detailed accounting for emergency funds
An internal fund is created with all designated contributions, and all expenditures related to emergency response are recorded for both internal management and external reporting purposes. Independently audited financial statements are prepared and published annually, but Zamzami will share current information on its website or Social media platforms as events unfold regarding programme activities.
What restricted funds may be used for
Emergency contributions will be used only for emergency-related programme costs and administrative expenses directly related to the emergency response activity. Programme costs include those related to purchasing, storing, transporting, and distributing essential material to affected areas and the costs of programme staff and related travel for emergency relief-assistance functions. Directly related administrative expenses include credit-card processing fees associated with the receipt of emergency contributions; accounting fees associated with managing emergency funds; postage related to issuing receipts to donors; banking fees related to bank transfers of emergency donations; warehousing and packaging of relief material; and IT support costs that are necessary to conduct related programme activity (such as inventory management of material being provided in the relief effort).
General, unrestricted financial support is essential for Zamzami to fulfil any of its deeply compelling humanitarian activities, including being able to respond rapidly to any emergency. Such unrestricted contributions are always needed, deeply appreciated, and enable Zamzami to assist people in many places and situations that do not make the news.
However, Zamzami is obligated to—and will always—honour the intent of a donor-designated financial contribution. If a donor were to make a clearly restricted gift for a purpose or with a restriction that Zamzami is not able to fulfil or comply with, Zamzami will advise the donor of this situation and inquire if other uses may be permitted.
In the event that a donor’s intent cannot be met by Zamzami the organisation would offer to direct the gift to another non–profit that would be able to fulfil the donor’s intent or return the gift.
Public Donations The importance of amanah (Trust); the responsibility and accountability it brings is immense. We at Zamzami strive to be completely transparent and aim to provide you feedback from the moment you donate, to the end charitable project you have donated to.
Donations will be used at the discretion of the trustees, to be applied within Zamzami’s objectives.
When donating via the website or via bank transfer, please indicate the charitable aim(s) you wish your donation to be applied to, we treat these donations as restricted funds. If any funds are not referenced, the trustees may use those donations for any project at their discretion.
If we collect insufficient funds to complete the charitable works for which you have donated towards, the Trustees will use their discretion to move additional funds from General Funds to complete the project.
If the charitable need for which we have collected for no longer exists or has been completed, then the trustees will use their discretion to ascertain the intention of the donors and any surplus funds would be allocated towards another appropriate similar project.
We can also collect and correctly apply donations by Islamic categories, like Fidya, Kaffarah, Zakat, Aqeeqah, these are restricted by Shariah Criteria, in which the trustees will select the country based on overall considerations.
The charity’s administrative costs are covered by:
Tax reclaimed from your donation (where specified) from the UK government’s Gift Aid scheme.