Infaq Friday: Empowering Home-Based Businesses

For many individuals, the Covid-19 pandemic tipped the scales and forced some to look for alternative incomes. For families who have only one sole breadwinner or with multiple members chronically ill, setting up a Home-Based Business (HBBs) might just be the pivot that they need to turn their lives around.

Understanding the struggles of many who look to setting up HBBs for their daily survival, especially in times of tragedy or income loss, Masjid Wak Tanjong (MWT) collaborates with Association of Muslim Professionals (AMP) to look into creating long-term income opportunities for these HBBs.

Killing Two Birds with One Stone

To create an income stream, it was decided that selected HBBs who are able to commit to the programme and provide the expected volume of food would become consistent food providers for the mosque’s Friday congregation as well as to provide food for the needy. 

Every week, a portion of the food they provide will be allocated for mosque congregants for Jumuah prayers while a portion is allocated to needy families in nearby neighbourhoods.

This means that the selected HBBs had a steady stream of income by catering for a consistent pool of people. 

Every Friday, MWT would expect a certain number of congregants who would come to the mosque for Friday prayers. At the same time, to kill two birds with one stone, these congregants would also need to have their lunch presumably before returning to work.

The food provided for the mosque, catered by the selected HBBs, would be a convenient provision for these congregants who do not need to go to another place to search for lunch.

Opening Doors for Donors

Who then funds the food that the mosque provides? Surely, providing food every Friday would incur some costs for the mosque since the amount of food is significant. 

This is where MWT’s unique donation programme, Impactbit, comes into play. Donors who sign up under the Impactbit programme will only need to donate a minimum of $4 a month, or any amounts above that, to contribute to MWT’s Infaq Friday programme.

Impactbit is a donation programme for regular and adhoc donors who want to contribute to the multiple projects under MWT’s purview via just one platform to ease donors’ efforts to donate regularly and prevent donor fatigue.

Creating Opportunities, Flexibility for HBBs

Using technology has definitely made it easier to link up selected HBBs with the opportunities to earn an income. It is even more meaningful for HBB sellers who are struck with certain life conditions and situations that prevent them from working full-time.

This is the case with one of the HBB sellers who said: “As the caretaker of an ill family member, I am unable to work full-time. I have struggled to provide for my family. Infaq Friday has helped me so much in boosting my income through preparing food for the community.”