FAQs

Exact locations are determined by community groups and local elders as they know where mosques are in greatest demand. A lot of planning goes in to building a mosque and we have to be mindful of land and resource availability too.

Paying for a prayer space (massala) is much more than simply providing a physical piece of a mosque – it means contributing to the whole building project and giving a community a dedicated place to pray for years to come. Your £100 donation per masalla helps to fund the initial development costs of the mosque, prayer hall and wudu facilities, such as buying the land and materials, paying the applicable taxes and wages for the construction workers, and also contributes towards the ongoing costs and liabilities, such as utilities supplies and maintenance.

The cost of building a mosque depends on several factors, including the country, the specific location, the availability of resources and builders, the size and facilities of the mosque, and so on. We aim to tailor mosques to local requirements wherever possible and always focus on value for money and ensuring each mosque has a long life and brings maximum benefit to the community.

This will depend on the location and size of the mosque. Each building project will be carefully planned to ensure that it is completed to the highest standards to give it the longest life. We would rather take our time to make sure that everything is just right, than rush through the process.

Yes, small payments made regularly can make a big difference – this is the Penny Appeal way. You can set up an affordable monthly Direct Debit and help us build mosques for just pennies per day. Automatic, monthly payments are the most efficient way to support Penny Appeal as they reduce the cost of administration. Regular commitments allow us to plan ahead and ensure that we have a reliable source of income to provide support and empower development.

It really helps us if you can Gift Aid your sponsorship or donation – it increases the value of your donation by 25%. If you are a UK taxpayer, selecting to 'Gift Aid' your donation (either by checking the box online or ticking the box on a paper donation form) will make it worth more to us at no extra cost to you.

In order for Penny Appeal to reclaim the tax you have paid on your donations, you must have paid income or capital gains tax (in the UK) equal to the tax that will be claimed by all the charities that you donate to (currently 25p for every £1 you give) in the same tax year. 

The tax reclaimed will be used to help fund the administration costs of the charity so that more of your actual donation can go directly to those in need. 

Gift Aid can be added to your donation if you are donating your own money. We regret that Gift Aid cannot be reclaimed if you are paying donations that you collected from others, even if everyone was a UK taxpayer. Neither can it be reclaimed on donations made by companies. Other taxes such as VAT and council tax do not qualify. Gift Aid cannot be claimed on payments for any ticketed events.

Please notify us if you are no longer eligible, wish to cancel this declaration, change your name or home address or if you no longer pay sufficient tax on your income and/or capital gains. 

By ticking the box you agree that you are eligible to claim Gift Aid as explained above and that we can treat this donation, any donations made in the last 4 years, and future donations as Gift Aid, and that you understand that if you pay less income tax and/or capital gains tax than the amount of Gift Aid claimed on all your donations in that tax year, it is your responsibility to pay any difference.

Please get in touch with us before cancelling your monthly payment as we could reduce the amount so that you can still help us provide life-saving aid. It also helps if you tell us first so that we can update our records.

We only use secure systems with banking standard safety features to make sure that your payment and financial data cannot be compromised. All online payments are securely processed via KeyIVR Ltd, PayPal or SmartDebit, and no financial data is retained on our servers.

Each person who signs up donates £100 a month, and we sort donors into groups of nine. After all nine in the group have made their 12 monthly instalments, there is enough in the collective fund to build a small mosque, and we instruct our teams to go ahead.

Building a mosque, as you can imagine, requires a lot of planning and preparation, and the whole process can take 12 months. Once complete, each of the nine donors in the “committee” will receive a feedback report on the mosque, showing where the mosque is located, photos of the construction work and the finished mosque, and a message from the imam.

It’s an incredibly rewarding thing to do as duas made at each mosque are attributed to all supporters. The more people who join the “build a mosque a month” scheme, the more successful it will be, giving more brothers and sisters around the world the chance to pray, learn and mark special occasions together.

With each of the nine donors contributing £1,200, a small pot of money is leftover after the build and will go on to provide things such as food and agricultural tools for the community.

Our mosques cost upwards of £10,000 depending on their size – the number of donors in the committee will determine the size and number of mosques we build each year. For example, we may have funds for several smaller mosques, which cost approximately £10,000, or if funds allow, and there is a need for it, we may instruct a medium-large mosque costing approximately £25,000 plus.

As soon as we know how many donors are in the Committee, we will instruct the build and you will of course be informed of the details.

We always provide a cost breakdown of the mosque in your final report.

Mosque construction runs from January – December each year.

If you begin donations between January - November, we will add your contributions to the existing cycle of donations. We always ensure our Monthly Committee projects are scalable, which gives us the option of enhancing the Mosque along the way. We check in with our overseas partner as the year goes on, and any additional funds will be utilised in the most beneficial way – previous examples of this include the addition of an outdoor ablution area, a water well in the nearby area, and a designated all-female area.

If you are considering donating to the scheme, there is no need to wait until the start of the year as all contributions will make a huge difference to the beneficiaries!

Any donations received in December will go towards the following years’ mosque.

Locations are selected on a ‘Where Most Needed’ basis by our International Programmes team alongside our trusted overseas partners. We will confirm the location of your mosque including the district and country soon after your first donation has been received.

Please note, in line with our Safeguarding Policy, we do not provide you with the village name.

Yes, you will receive updates over the course of the year. Please see the approximate timeline below:

Progress updates will include construction updates and/or images.

Your Project Completion Report will include a full account of your project from start to finish, including images of the beneficiaries and very often a message from the Village Leader and/or local people.

As previously noted, if you begin donations January-November you will be included in the committee for that year and will receive all up to date information upon starting your donations.

We always encourage donors to commit to 1 full year of donations if possible, as you will be part of a Monthly Committee, and each contribution is therefore important. We do however understand that people’s situations change, so if you find yourself in a position where you are not able to continue with payments, we ask that you call our Customer Care Team. It is possible for us to reduce the monthly amount so that you can still help us provide life-saving aid, or of course, we can simply update our records if you wish to fully stop payments.

If you are happy to continue supporting The Mosque Project after your first year of payments, you do not need to take any action – donations will continue automatically and we will send you all the information you need regarding your next Mosque.

Please note, if you wish to stop your donations after 12 months, it is your responsibility to cancel your Direct Debit.