A thank you gift for HalfDaters and an announcement for our social investment project.

We are buying $900 worth of these wacky games Kalimaat and selling them as an investment, all proceeds go to support HalfDate projects.

Click here to claim your gift or buy one more

We are looking for proposals from organizations that have track records in the following fields:

• House-Parties for Islam: grassroots social events in people’s house across the Ummah
• Helping Muslims to find halal jobs
• Supporting Muslim community publications
• How to learn Arabic language
• School Baskets for Native Americans in Crow Creek
• Journalism scholarship
• School administration scholarship/grants
• Teacher appreciation
• Community facilities: Hospitals, cemeteries, slaughter houses, farms, and orphanages
• Special needs (e.g. seniors, blind, etc.)
• Natives/aboriginals needs in Americas & Australia
• Environmental projects: Green, organic

How to apply?

1. Ask a HalfDater email in your request. Specify 1- how much 2- by when 3- a non-profit in the US/UK/Canada/Australia that will accept the money online
2. Agree to provide all marketing materials (audio/video that are universally acceptable, i.e. no music and with proper Islamic dress code)
3. Agree to provide daily updates for all donations raised during the drive
4. Agree to be available for interviews
5. Do your part with HalfDate

Call for Volunteers:

We need 7 volunteers for each month Rajab/July, Shaaban/Aug, Ramadan/Sept, and Shawwal/Oct.

No experience needed, as long as you check your emails

Apply only if you are an active HalfDater and can volunteer at least 3 hrs within the next month. http://groups.google.com/group/halfdate-volunteers

Logo Logistics

Choice 1:	Choice 2: (without the slogan)	Choice 3:
Choice 4:	Choice 5:	Choice 6: Not for voting but an example of color

All these logos are open for modifications. The designer sister just need our feedback.

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If you want to modify the logo, click here to post your suggestions.

Update #7

DateDrive of Jumada Al-Awal 1430/May 2009

Type of DateDrive: Monetary & Intellectual
Drive Target:

1. Collecting 7 ideas for how to generate money/moola/dates for worthy causes
2. Raising $900 seed money (which will be used to generate more income for monthly DateDrives, dividends are donated and the principal is re-invested.)
3. Finalizing 3 projects for next round of support


We have combined different submitted ideas into three categories, please vote for the one that can generate most benefits and excitement.


Select which project to feature

• Build a community e-commerce store (benefit noble causes)
• Donate your experties: cook book, teaching, designing
• Affiliate programs: iGive, goodShop, SISTERS Club, HalalBuzz 33% promotion

View Results

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Deadline: 6/15/2009

Results:

• Organized Coach Zohra’ class collected $355 (recording is available for sale, click here)

Submitted Ideas: (first come first list)

1. Baitul Salaam iGive: by Help a non-profit while surfing
2. CharityBook: a Ramadan cook book to raise funds for an Orphanage. Looking for sponsors who would get advertising space in the book to help pay for the costs, all the profit goes to the orphans, Insha Allah
3. Community e-commerce store: A non-profit will ask its beneficiaries to do some handmade products and the rest of the HalfDaters promote the store
4. Donate your expertise: by coach Zohra
5. Elephant ride (Event on June 6th): Looking for $5K to invest in an elephant ride fundraising event, which in the past two years have raised $14,500 on average
6. Fresh & Noble: Selling fresh produce to help the unemployed
7. SISTERS Club and Affiliates: The SISTERS Club is the new direct selling network, established by SISTERS Magazine, the magazine for fabulous Muslim women. Raise funds for charity or earn some halal income by working where and when you want - it’s your show, you call the shots. Join the SISTERS Club and see what a difference you can make!
8. Halal Farm: Buy dry halal organic beef and part of the profit is donated
9. HalalBuzz.com: Donating 1/3 of its revenue to HalfDate.com
10. GoodShop of Almaun

Drive Sponsors

The following sponsors have either helped HalfDate before with free services or have bought a sponsorship package. To sponsor a drive, please contact us.

Handmade artwork from ZamzamDesign.com

KMC, for shoppers in Malaysia?

Cards for Halal occasions

A Suggested Proposal

We will implement two concepts 1- donate your expertise 2- social entrepreneurs

Coach Zohra Sarwari will teach:

5 Ways to Make Money From Home

It’s a 2-hours online/phone class, if you sign up through HalfDate it’s $30, regular price is $97.

We get 30 signups for this teleclass. Coach Zohra will donate all the money, so that’s $900 less paypal fees. We get another 4 donors/investors to invest in Al-Madina School elephant ride fundraising event at $1000 each, that’s $4900 total. We then all promote the elephant ride event and hopefully after June 6th, that $4000 will be return to the investors, and remaining donations will be reinvested into new projects.

Al-Manidah School is a registered not-for-profit organization, Tax ID 51-0179919.
3510 Exposition Place
Los Angeles, CA 90018
(323) 296-5961

*30 days full refund if not satisfied with the class* Click to join

Want to spread the word?

• Blog about this drive. Click here
• Post the http://halfdate.com link on your email or forum signature.
• Buy an ad on Google or social media ads on Facebook, MySpace, …
• Donate for publicity fund for DateDrives.
• Tell your local media about this drive.

Update # 19

Note:There are several donors who offered to donate but their payment methods didn’t work or the transaction fee is higher than the donation, so we would like to acknowledge their effort and may Allah reward them for their intentions, they are from Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, UAE, UK, and USA.

DateDrive of Rabie A-thani 1430/April 2009
Type of DateDrive: Monetary & Awareness

Drive Target:

1. Collecting $4,977 USD (rent about $750 + educational programs for $500)
2. Getting 70 support comments and dua, click here to post a pleasant word (Put, your city/state/country, so we feel the sense of one global family)
3. Getting 12 groups/individuals to write support letters/cards to these 50 families in Houston, mail them to this address

Current highest donation is $700, smallest $1, click here to read more interesting facts.

Combined total of Paypal, Authorize.net, and offline

The above total includes Al-Amaanah locally raised $2141

“I’m currently an unemployed student! ALhamdulilah I gave $40 to this great cause. I hope HalfDate can match I remember when our family were refugees, how many generous people helped us with everything: clothing, food, education, etc.” -Sister A

To donate (online or by mail) click on “Donate Now”

Write to these families

We are looking for 12 groups/individuals to write to these 50 families in Houston.

So far, the following brothers/sisters/groups have promised to write:

1. Sunday school, TX, USA made 50 cards Allahu Akbar!
2. BuildingBlocks, MN, USA
3. Sydney youth, NSW, Australia
4. Bengali tigers, CA, USA
5. Ladiedee, MI, USA
6. Poetry Sisters, CA, USA
7. Coach Zohra, IN, USA will collect from her community and send in Hijab and other gifts
8. Baitul Salaam, GA, USA will collect and send gifts, giftcards, and cards
9. Calgary Sisters, AB, Canada
10. Northside College Prep Jamaah Club, IL, USA
11. Miriam, NY, USA will send a Hijab and a note
12. Bebo’s parents, NJ, USA
13. Abu & Umm Omar, CA, USA
14. Dulles High School Muslims, TX, USA

Al Amaanah, Inc.
8181 Fannin, Suite 337
Houston, TX, 77054

Or email tamra at halfdate and we will print/convey your email to Alamaanah volunteers.

There are about 50 families, lots of kids, about 10 widows, and a few sisters living on their own. If your school/masjid want to ask your kids to make cards for these families, please try to make 50 cards and let the kids write their names and their city.

Sample Letters & Cards

All the info they gave was that it was from Sister Yafa and her class (Imam, Yusuf, Ahmed, Muhammad, Iman, Amal, Yasmine, and Hosna). May Allah reward the teacher, students, parents, school admin, and all those who helped with the sweetest date in Jannah

If you want to write to a specific person, you can write to the following:

Kids:
you can ask them to write to Hassan and Ibrahim, asking them to take good care of their mother, of each other, and their younger brother.

Or Mustafa:

Adult:
Abu Mais
A father of 7 kids, eldest is 14 yrs old. He takes his kids to and from school everyday, runs all the errands during the day and then works at night as a security guard.

Pharwin
A Burmese girl, mashallah very very smart, she serves as our guide every time we go to the Burmese complex because she is the only one that can speak English there. She is still in school, learning fast and likes school.

Some of you asked about giving these families some gifts. Here are some suggestions:

Prayer rugs, Qurans (especially, in Burmese language) and scarfs/Abayas, school supplies, household items and appliance, and clothes.

The following are some example of these families (Al-Amaanah sponsors about 50 families):

Family #1 (Iraqi)
Single woman, lives on her own, doesn’t speak English. Wallahy she has been waiting all week for our visit, she hasn’t been here for long and doesn’t know that many ppl. Has no one to talk to, and thats her main problem, she wants to learn English so bad. I suggest some sisters make it a habit to visit her twice a week. Maybe get some dessert or something and just go spend some quality time with her. She will be having surgery in April so won’t be able to work this month until she gets the surgery and recovers. She also needs pocket money during this period until she starts working again. Please visit her, call her on the phone, make her know that she is not forgotten!

Family #2 (Iraqi)
Single woman living with her mom and she is the one that has to pay the bills, her mom is too old to work. She was in dire need of finding a job last week and alhamdulillah she just got one a couple of days ago. She hasn’t been working for a month though and her rent has to be paid before the end of the month!!! She also is planning to move closer to work because she takes 3 buses just to get there from where they live. So we promised to help her move, but rent still has to be paid for this month!!!

Family #3 (Iraqi)
A man in his mid 30s, can’t work because he has a lot of medical problems, needs help paying his electric bill (inshalla is in the process of being taken care of). He doesn’t speak English and therefore is isolated in this big world! We should start making it a habit to visit him every week too. He says he could use some furniture around the house so we need to go visit him and find out how can we help him more.

Family #4 (Iraqi) *update 4/19 He found a job, Alhamduilllah*
The father used to work as a barber in Iraq, he had another job here but got laid off because of the economy. He said he is waiting on his papers to come from Iraq this week so that he can start working his normal job (cutting hair). He is having trouble paying the bills and rent till he starts working again.

Frequently Asked Questions:

• Can I give Zakah?
  Yes, you can click here to give Zakah
• Do you spend my Zakah in administrative or operational cost?
  No, Zakah is strictly and totally giving to end beneficiaries.
• Can these brothers and sisters work?
  Yes, they are looking for jobs and a few do have part-time jobs, but that’s only enough to pay for food, utilities, etc.
• What about government assistance?
  Government rent assistance to refugee families cover only the first four months.
• I saw on TV that non-Muslims organizations (e.g. churches) are helping them?
  Yes, there are other refugee service organizations. However, Al Amaanah provides unique services that Muslim families need, e.g. educational programs for their children.
• What is Al Amaanah?
  Al Amaanah is refugee service organization based in Houston, Texas, USA. The word Amaanah means trust or duty, because Muslims believe that taking care of our brothers and sisters who happened to be refugees is an amaanah on everyone’s shoulders.
• What other services does Al Amaanah provide?
  Other than financial support, our services include English classes, homework help for children, and physical and emotional support for many widows, injured, and disabled refugees.
• I want to know more about your volunteer interaction with these families, where can I find that?
  Visit Al-Amaanah blog http://alamaanah.wordpress.com/

For more information, visit http://www.alamaanah.com/ or listen to this interview.

To keep updated, visit Al-Amaanah blog http://alamaanah.wordpress.com/

Interesting Facts

• All early donors are from Australia (Sun does rise from there )
• Smallest contribution is $1 (half a date )
• Biggest contribution so far is $250 from Pennsylvania $400 from California $500 from Texas $700 Calgary, Canada
• A laid off mother of three donated $20, a brother who lost his job gave $40 (please make dua for them)
• Several unemployed students gave, one gave $7.29 because that’s what she had in her account.
• Youngest donor she doesn’t even have a credit card or bank account Rehan and Heba (7 & 4 children donated from their own money).
• Alhamdulillah, Over 10 blog posts for this drive, may Allah reward all bloggers.
• Alhamdulillah, over 17K views on YouTube alone (not counting other sites), may Allah reward all views and promoters.
• The donor who gave $7.29 later gave another $77 from tax refund.
• A sister found a job after giving.
• A mother found her sick child improving after giving.
• Several donors gave multiple times, one sister gave again because she didn’t have enough to give the first time, another sister gave whenever she felt pain or inspirations.
• Alhamdulillah, over 100 gift items (cards, letter, gift card, scarf, clothing) have been mailed to Al-Amaanah
• Several groups have raised for the drive, namely Northwestern University, Calgary medical students, and Organic HalfDate Club

If you know any media or Khateeb wants to talk about this drive. Let them contact us (tamra -a-t- halfdate.com)

Drive Sponsors

HalfDate promotion costs are sponsored by the following sponsors and by HalfDaters like you.

Want to spread the word?

• Blog about this drive. Click here
• Post the http://halfdate.com link on your email or forum signature.
• Buy an ad on Google or social media ads on Facebook, MySpace, …
• Chip in for flyer printing and distribution.
• Tell your local media about this drive.

Pictures:

Invite yourself and your friends to the most widespread Sadaqah promotion service on the net, Allahu Akbar.

Join the mailing list!

Summary:
The goal of this drive is to invite 1000 strong to the mailing list.

عن عبدالله بن عباس ‏عن النبي ‏صلى الله عليه وسلم‏
‏قال‏: كل معروف صدقة ، و الدال على الخير كفاعله.
صحيح الجامع

“Every act of goodness is a sadaqah (charity) and the one who leads others to goodness is like the one who does it.” -Sahih Al-Jami’a

Here is what happens when a brother put this on his gmail status:

Goal: Invite 1000 people to join HalfDate mailing list

Deadline: March 31, 2009

Action:

1. Join the mailing list if you haven’t

Your Name:
Your E-Mail:

2. Really cool, mashaAllah tabarakaAllah. It let you login to your email and select your friends (it doesn’t store your password and the service is from a reputable company, in-sha-Allah), it also let you post to social networking sites (Facebook, MySpace, …). Click on the icon and choose Email ONLY 20 emails at a time. (the icon at the end of this post let you send more at a time, but only works with gmail).
3. Add “I’m helping http://halfdate.com/currentdrive to get 500 more members to join its mailing list. Please subscribe!” to your email signature, away message, facebook status, twitter, or any other outlets you have
4. Post a comment sharing with the rest of HalfDaters what you did

Progress:

Interesting Highlights:

1. An noticeable sign ups, ma-sha-Allah tabaraka-Allah, from Brooklyn, NY and Orange County, CA in the US. As for other countries, a noticeable new HalfDaters are from the UAE and India
2. Many people signed up because of seeing the link on their friend’s Facebook status
3. Baitul Salaam of GA offered to send it to their list
4. Al Amaanah of TX offered to send it to their list
5. We’ve sent out this tracking link http://cli.gs/HalfDate-tell-a-friend, which redirect to this current drive, and people from the following countries have clicked. Check if your country is is highlighted in red (Click on the map to enlarge)
   
   

A Facebook user’s status

May Allah reward you for spreading the word.

Summary:
The goal of this drive is to train the Ummah to work more effectively.

عن ‏ابن عمر ‏عن النبي ‏صلى الله عليه وسلم‏ ‏قال‏: إن من الشجر لما بركته كبركة المسلم … هي النخلة . رواه البخاري

“There is a tree among the trees which is as blessed as a Muslim.” -collected by Al-Bukhari

HalfDate is 1-yr-old now, alhamdulillah.

It’s time to build our first DateFarm by cultivating HalfDaters to become DatePalms.

It all started with one hadith of the prophet (salla Allahu ‘aalaihi wa sallam), one weekend, and one slice of pizza!

Soub-ha-na-Allah (Glory be to Allah), during the past 12 months Muslims from different walks of the Ummah have united to accomplish 13 dateDrives. Drives ranged from awareness campaign to fundraising ones, where HalfDaters like you have donated over $27,000.

So, to thank Allah for this success, we need to train more volunteers to fulfill more requests.

Therefore, it’s time to build our first DateFarm by cultivating HalfDaters like you to become DatePalms

DateDrive Goal:

• Train at least 30 HalfDaters to become DatePalms (it’s a professional training with a fee, and when you volunteer for HalfDate later you get paid to offset the the training cost).

If you want to MAKE a difference, if you want to CHANGE the world with half a date or a pleasant word, join the training and become a DatePalm.

Who will give the training?

Brother Mohammed, UK. Specialty in productivity for teams and individuals

Mohammed is the founder of ProductiveMuslim.com, which explores productivity from an Islamic perspective. He looks into the Quran, the Seerah, and the history of the Islamic civilization for snippets and life hacks that would make our life more productive. He draws his experience from his four years at Bristol University working for Bristol ISOC (two years as General Secretary and one year as President), and his passion to read and follow all the latest in productivity. His recent travels to the Middle-East with a visionary and inspirational CEO has also added to his knowledge and expertise. Mohammed provides varied resources and advice on a broad range of topics including becoming an executive, team leadership skills, communication, and Islamic tips on management. He joined hands with FOSIS in 2008 to focus on training Islamic Societies across the UK in order to “help elevate their duties into a form of worship rather than simply an activity of a student society”.

Testimonials

“At the crucial point where I had almost given up on getting my clients, after speaking to you the advice you gave was so useful and set me back on track again. After that it was plain sailing, it was client after client! Most importantly I achieved my goal and beyond! JazakAllah Khair BarakAllah feek!” -Khafayah, life coach in the UK.

Training Topics:

1. Be a reviver: How to revive the Ummah in this century?

In this module, you will learn the fundamentals from an Islamic point of view and how to apply them in your reality using state of the art business and management strategies and techniques.

2. Value creation: How to turn something worthless to priceless?

In this module, you will cover learn value creation principals with case studies by HalfDate and other real life examples, e.g. Red Paper Clip.

3. Show me the money: A recession-proof approach, in-sha-Allah (God-Willing)

In this module, you will learn how to ask without asking, how to raise friend before raising fund, how to network and tell your story. Case studies include a high school brother who raised $3061.29 in a few days.

4. Earn rewards while socializing: How to organize house-parties?

In this module, you will learn how to organize an event, set the program, make it halal and fun, integrate good-deeds into your lifestyle. Several examples of successful commercial and campaign techniques are covered.

5. United we stand: How to build an effective team?

In this module, you will learn how to pick your team members, train them, leverage their strength and uniqueness, and other best practices of team building and management.

6. I think therefore I am: Effective thinking

In this module, you will learn how to think systematically and creatively, how to brainstorm for new ideas, and how to integrate your ideas using the PIES model (physically, intellectually, emotionally & spiritually).

7. Marketing 2.0: How to let your buzz cut through the noise

In this module, you will learn marketing using Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. How to create hype and buzz using user-generated contents, and how to craft a viral message.

8. The good old email marketing: Yep, it still works

In this module, you will learn how to build your mailing list, how to write an effective email subject and text, and how to use the PS line.

9. HalfDate behind the scene: How we did it?

In this module, you will learn how to how to blend prophetic wisdom with latest technologies. A day in HalfDate’s around the clock global operation: How HQ starts an idea, Canada writes it, New Zealand proofreads it, Australia posts it, India promotes it, Singapore comments on it, Italy post a picture about it, the UK produces audio and videos for it, and South Africa blogs about it. Alhamduillah, even at nights, a group of HalfDaters will be praying for the cause.

10. DateDreaming: Ten ideas to share

In this module, you will learn about philanthropic ventures that can be built on certain verses in the Quran and hadiths: e.g. community loan, neighborhood feeding team, and community lifeline (everyday there is a sadaqa due on your 300+ joints).

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Two Bonus Modules
11. I’m in the news! How to let the media cover your good-cause

In this module, you will learn how news are created, the best days are to approach the media for coverage, how to attract media, and basics of PR (press release, pitch letter, wire service, etc.)

12. Cause-related marketing: How to get a business sponsor your cause

In this module, you will learn the art and science of cause-marketing, with examples and industry case studies.

How our training is different?

• We are fun, yet professional. Simple, yet effective.
• Our team brings you years of experience and what other organization charges thousands of dollars for equivalent trainings.
• Unique blend of ancient wisdom (e.g. The law of attraction in Hadith) with state of the art practice (techniques are never been used by non-profit organizations or even heard by many Muslims organizations).

In-sha-Allah, it will be a life changing experience.

Schedule:
In-sha-Allah, all trainings will be online and recorded, so you can listen to them at your convenience.

Price:

• Before Feb 27th, $147. (Also, for those who live outside the US, you can choose to pay in US Dollars or your local currency, whatever is lower for you, because we understand that the fee may be high for some countries).
• After Feb 27th, $200 (ask about our discount code, and organizational group deals)
• After Mar 10th, $249 (ask about our discount code, and organizational group deals)
• Some of the recorded session will be available for sale at $9.99 to $39 each.

What’s in it for DatePalms?
You get $50 monthly self-improvement allowance.

How to become a DatePalm?

• You have to find an accountability partner and sign up both (each pay separate fees) *You don’t need to find a partner to register for the training, but you need one to volunteer.
• You take all the modules
• You pass the graduation, which is a team assignment of any of the following: Raising $200 for next drive, organize an event, publish an article, design a poster or produce a video.

Risk Free Money Back Guarantee

In 30 days, if for any reasons you are not satisfied, you get 100% refund.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Can this training help me in my business?

Sure it can, in-sha-Allah. You actually get this discounted price at HalfDate only, because we offer the same training for businesses at a higher rate.

• Can I just take some modules?

Individual modules are offered at $49. The training is live and recorded. You can take the module that interests you at your convenient time. Unless you want to volunteer for HalfDate, then you need to take all the modules.

• I can’t pay all at once, is there a payment plan?

Yes, there is a payment plan, sign up and mention that in your application form.

• Why do you charge? How can I get a scholarship?

The fee is set to filter serious Muslims from others. However, we understand there are serious Muslims who can’t afford this training at this time. If you need scholarship, post a comment stating how you will benefit the Ummah with this training and how you have a proven record of seriousness. (you can choose to email us the same).

• If I want to volunteer for HalfDate, how much time are we talking about?

The actual tasks maybe only three hours per month. Your main contribution is constantly telling others about HalfDate the the on going drives, so it doesn’t require dedicated minimum number of hours.

• If I want to volunteer for HalfDate, what kind of tasks should I expect?

It depends on your strength and interests. Mainly, at HalfDate, we need people to proofread and edit annoucements, promote drives, solicit applications for future drives, perform some graphics work, and visit the forum.