Carpet sponsorship: organising a fundraising campaign in your mosque

In a carpet sponsorship, members of the community cover the cost of individual prayer places or square metres of the new carpet. A larger project is shared by many, and every contribution becomes visible. You calculate the amount per unit as the total in the quote ÷ the number of prayer places.

This guide shows how such a campaign works, what matters for transparency and how to announce it in your community.

How a carpet sponsorship works

The mosque sets the total cost and a duration and divides the amount into clear units, for example one prayer place or one square metre. Members take on one or more units.

The prayer place does not belong to anyone personally: it remains part of the shared space. Many communities see such a sponsorship as a lasting good deed (sadaqa jariya, an ongoing charity).

There are three common models:

You can estimate the number of places with a rule of thumb: about 1.20 m of row depth and 0.70 m of width per place. A room of 15 × 10 m gives around 12 rows of 14 places, i.e. about 168 places. With a Seccade design, each place is visible and countable in the carpet.

Clarify beforehand what the total in the quote includes, for example delivery, installation or disposal of the old carpet. Only then is the amount per unit correct. What influences a quote is explained in our guide How much does a mosque carpet cost?

Step by step: planning the campaign

1. Committee decision. The committee approves the campaign, names a responsible person and a deputy and decides who manages the money.
2. Get a quote. Obtain a written quote, ideally several for comparison. You can also request a non-binding quote from us. The total in the quote is the basis for the calculation.
3. Define the units. Choose a model from the table and calculate the amount per unit. Decide whether several people can share one place.
4. Set the duration. Set the start and end of the campaign. Plan backwards from your target date: a made-to-measure carpet needs several weeks of lead time. If it should be in place for Ramadan, expected to begin on 8 February in 2027, our timeline for ordering before Ramadan will help.
5. Announcement after Friday prayer. Briefly introduce the campaign – through the committee or the imam – and point to the text in the community group (template below).
6. Keep a list. Record who has taken on which unit, but only with the donors’ consent. Two people should check incoming donations together.
7. Close and give thanks. Announce the result, thank the community and publish an overview of income and expenditure without personal data.

Transparency builds trust

People are happy to give when they can see what happens to their contribution. These points help:

• Show progress openly. Put a donation barometer in the entrance and send a weekly update to the WhatsApp group.
• Name a responsible person. Everyone in the community should know whom to ask.
• Decide in advance what happens with more or less. Record in writing what a surplus will be used for, and say so in the announcement.

If not enough comes in, plan for the remaining amount from the start, for example from the association’s budget. Then the order does not have to wait.

Questions about donation receipts and tax depend on your country and your association’s status; clarify them with your adviser.

Avoiding common pitfalls

Some things go wrong in a similar way in many communities. With a little preparation they can be avoided:

• Pledges are not money yet. Follow up pledges kindly, but plan the order with what has actually come in or is covered by the association’s budget.
• Starting too late. If the campaign begins shortly before the target date, time gets tight. Start early enough for order and installation to fit the schedule.
• Addressing only part of the community. Include women’s and youth groups. If there is a women’s area, it should be part of the carpet project from the start.
• Too many ways to donate. Use the association’s agreed payment channels and keep all donations in one shared overview.

Announcement and notice: templates to copy

A short text after Friday prayer and in the community group is often enough. Fill in the details in square brackets yourself:

As-salamu alaykum, dear brothers and sisters,

our prayer hall is getting a new carpet. So that we can carry this project together, we are starting a carpet sponsorship for [name of the mosque].

How it works: the total in the quote is divided among our [number of places] prayer places. One place costs [amount per place]. You can sponsor one place, several places or make a free contribution. Taking part is voluntary. Your name will only be mentioned publicly with your consent.

You can see the current status on the donation barometer in the entrance. The campaign runs until [date].

Questions and bank transfer: [bank details / contact person]

May Allah accept it from all of us.

Idea for the notice board: the donation barometer. Draw the outline of the carpet or a row of place boxes on a large poster. Colour in a box as soon as the association has confirmed receipt of the donation for that place. Everyone can then see at a glance how far the campaign has come, without names or amounts. Update the poster after each Friday prayer.

The notice should show:

• the goal (number of prayer places) and the current status,
• the duration of the campaign,
• contact person and bank details,
• a note that taking part is voluntary.

Staying respectful: no pressure, names only with consent

A sponsorship is voluntary. Do not put anyone under pressure, and never name members who have not donated. Explicitly offer the option of donating without public mention of one’s name. With a bank transfer, the association will still see the sender’s name on the bank statement.

We also advise against putting the sponsors’ names on the carpet itself. The place should remain part of the shared space. Anyone who would like to be acknowledged can be named on a thank-you board in the entrance instead – but only with consent.