Sadaqa House is a charity crowdfunding platform by Bank Islam. Through this platform, donors can donate to charitable projects that are uploaded on it. Donors can donate based on their interest or even to a perpetual fund of Sadaqa House which is not tagged to any charitable projects.
Launched on January 19, 2018, Sadaqa House is created in line with the Value Based Intermediation (VBI) initiative by Bank Negara Malaysia. It serves to facilitate the ‘demand and supply’ in the social welfare sector.
In the era of Industrial Revolution 4.0, in which the Internet of Things (IOT) is its salient feature, Sadaqa House aims to digitalize the way of fund collection so people can donate through the web or even using their mobile phone. People can also donate through e-donation terminals just by tapping their credit cards or debit cards.
The bank collaborates with a community of frontliners in civil society which includes, but is not limited to, non-profit organizations, non-governmental organizations, institutions and groups of individuals that manifest interest towards the betterment of the community at large and must be in line with the focus sectors of Sadaqa House. The focus sectors are healthcare, environment, community empowerment and economic empowerment.
Sadaqa House plays the role as intermediary between donors and charitable projects. Therefore, good governance becomes the underpinning thrust of Sadaqa House. To underline the bank’s commitment to good governance, there is a Zakat and Charity Committee that provides oversight on the end-to-end process of Sadaqa House.
As part of the good governance, Bank Islam will ensure transparency and disclosure of Sadaqa House fund management through public reporting.
Sadaqa House provides various platform for public to channel donation. The options are as follows via Bank in or remit donation to Sadaqa House Bank Islam account number at 140 140 101 88888. This can also be done via Bank Islam internet banking.
There is also the Islamic crowdfunding platform www.globalsadaqah.com/sadaqahouse which accepts donation via PayPal, FPX as well as credit card and debit card.
For those who prefer traditional methods, the bank provides donation boxes at selected areas and the account number of Sadaqa House. It also educates people in using the digital platform to donate. There are tax rebates provided by their strategic partners among the foundation, including IJN Foundation and Yayasan Sultanah Bahiyah.
To date, the bank has collected about RM480,000 from the public, consisting of individual and corporate bodies. With the Bank’s 1:1 matching grant (with maximum of RM500,000), the aggregated amount is RM960,000.
The campaign with IJN Foundation is the fastest in reaching the collection target. For the first phase, seven out of nine paediatric patients have successfully undergone heart surgery.
For UTM and Yayasan Sultanah Bahiyah, the bank is still running the collection drive.
The bank is looking forward to collaborating with new startup NGOs as well as established NGOs. The bank is however very particular in selecting NGOs and the charity projects follow. There will be a check on the background profile of the NGOs and the viability of proposed projects.
