April 3, 2018

Salam alaykum/Greetings of peace,

I hope this note reaches you in the best of health and spirit. I am writing to update you on your investments in ING and to kick off our fundraising campaign in the coming months between now and June. My goal is to raise $250,000 during this period.

Please consider donating any amount you’re comfortable giving for this year at our site. Last year, 800 of you gave an average of $250 each.

Staffing Updates:
ishaq pathan
Promoted to Deputy Executive Director is Ishaq Pathan, formerly INGYouth Manager. Over the last two years, Ishaq oversaw the development of the INGYouth program, training 250 Muslim teens in 7 states on bullying prevention and speaking and presenting on their faith; creating online tools for teens, including PowerPoint presentations on Islam and answers to frequently asked questions about Muslims; and launching the INGYouth teen speaker certification program that has produced 85 certified Muslim teen speakers in five states who so far have delivered dozens of presentations in their school classrooms and assemblies.
kate chance
Promoted to Community Engagement Manager is Kate Chance, formerly Interfaith Manager. Over the past year and half, Kate has developed the Interfaith Speakers Bureau program that delivered panels to 120 classrooms in 2017, a 98% jump from the previous year. She also grew the Know Your Neighbor-Multifaith Encounters Program that last year reached five million people across the country through five social media campaigns.
heena haiderali
Joining us as the new Programs Associate replacing Lily Nasar is Heena Haiderali. Heena oversees speaker scheduling in the Bay Area and speaker training across the country, and works with the content department on online content. Heena joined ING in November 2017.
We wish Ishaq, Kate, and Heena much success in their new positions. Other ING staff are listed here .

Programming Updates:

Thanks to your generous donations of $589,000 in 2017, which very nearly met our operational goal of $600,000, we achieved the following:

  • Our media outreach work reached tens of millions of people through 298 articles on ING programs across 33 states.
  • The Islamic Speakers Bureau increased 28% in output levels from the prior year, from 17,532 total audience last year to 22,500 this year, and from 584 classes or audience groups to 750 classes or groups.
  • The Interfaith Speakers Bureau increased 98% in output levels from the prior year, from 1,692 total audience to 3,354 and from 56 classes to 112 classes.
  • Nearly 100% of our requesters rate our work as “excellent” or “good”: More on our impact here:
  • Speaker effectiveness – 99%
  • Content relevance – 94%
  • Will request again – 98%
  • Know Your Neighbor-Multifaith Encounters campaigns registered ten million impressions and a reach of five million. More on KYN impact here.
  • Trained 250 Muslim teens in 7 states on bullying prevention and presenting on their faith; and certified 85 Muslim teen speakers in five states who have delivered dozens of presentations in their school classrooms and assemblies. More information on the INGYouth program here.
  • Our online content is now being downloaded in 46 states. 
  • And we continue to support affiliates in 18 states that are duplicating our work.

25th Anniversary Event:

Thanks to your generous support, we reached our 25th anniversary this year in February 2018, Alhamdullillah (all praise is due to God). We’re planning to celebrate sometime this year or early next. We’ll keep you posted. The event will also announce how much we’ve raised for the ING endowment. If you’re interested in learning more about the endowment, please contact me at Elgenaidi@ing.org.

How you can continue to support ING:

The two best ways to support us are with your donations and your prayers. Your donations can be made here: www.ing.org/donate . You can also volunteer at ING as a speaker for the Islamic Speakers Bureau or Interfaith Speakers Bureau by contacting Heena@ing.org, or become one of our ambassadors by publicizing our work by reposting our posts on our Facebook , Twitter , LinkedIn , or Instagram pages. Click the links to join.

Thank you. We’re grateful and honored to serve the Muslim and American communities at large.

Sincerely,

Maha Elgenaidi
Executive Director