AI-Powered Email Personalisation: How Muslim Charity Boosted Their Ramadan Fundraising

Introduction

In the competitive landscape of charitable giving, personalisation has become increasingly important for organisations seeking to connect with donors in meaningful ways. This case study explores how Muslim Charity, a mid-sized organisation with £7.5 million in annual income, partnered with Giving Analytics to revolutionise their donor communications during Ramadan, their most critical fundraising period.

The Challenge

Muslim Charity faced several significant challenges that limited their fundraising potential:

Resource Constraints

• Just 20 employees with no dedicated data personnel
• Limited in-house data analysis expertise
• Legacy CRM system with minimal segmentation capabilities

Seasonal Dependence

• Over 30% of annual income generated during Ramadan
• High pressure to maximise results during this crucial period
• Competition from other Muslim charities all sending ~10 emails during Ramadan

Communication Limitations

• One-size-fits-all email approach (£2/month donors receiving identical messages as £10,000 one-off donors)
• Difficult to segment by donor behaviour or seasonal giving patterns
• Lack of Islamic calendar integration in their existing systems

As Maroof Pirzada, UK Director at Muslim Charity, explained: "We wanted to make more data-driven decisions. No more guesswork!"

The Solution

Muslim Charity partnered with Giving Analytics, to implement an AI-driven personalisation strategy that would work alongside their existing systems rather than requiring expensive technology upgrades.

Implementation Process

1. Data Integration: Connected with the legacy CRM via simple CSV exports
2. Donor Analysis: Leveraged LLMs to develop deep insights into donor behaviours, preferences, and giving patterns
3. Personalisation at Scale: Created completely individualised email content for each donor based on their unique relationship with the charity

The Technology

The Giving Analytics solution analysed multiple dimensions of donor data:

• Donation history and RFM scoring
• Geographic location
• Project preferences (which appeals they supported)
• Religious giving patterns (Zakat donations)
• Seasonal giving behaviours (previous Ramadan participation)

This analysis powered an AI system that could generate completely unique, personalised emails that spoke directly to each donor's individual relationship with Muslim Charity.

Results

The implementation of AI-powered personalisation delivered remarkable results:

Quantitative Impact

• 4.1x increase in average donations per email open compared to standard template emails sent during the same period (~350k emails total)
• Highest donation per email delivered across all campaigns
• Zero emails marked as spam

Qualitative Feedback

Donors responded exceptionally positively to the personalised communications:

• "Thanks so much for the information, happy to see the impact my humble donations have had."
• "JazakAllah khair [thank you] for the beautiful message."
• "Thank you for sending this email. I will be doing more hand pumps throughout this year..."
• "Inshallah [God willing] I will continue to give to this charity."

Example: Personalisation in Action

To illustrate the depth of personalisation, see this example email generated for a donor named Adam from Manchester:

Assalamu Alaykum Adam,

I hope this message finds you in the best of health and iman. I wanted to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude for your unwavering support.

Your generosity in the past year, with a remarkable total of £1415 across 4 donations, has not only placed you in the top 10% of donors from Greater Manchester but also contributed significantly to our cause. Through your contributions, especially the £300 specifically designated for our food appeal, you’ve become a cornerstone of our efforts to alleviate hunger.

As you may know, we are now in the blessed month of Ramadan, a time of compassion, reflection, and community. Your contributions last year profoundly impacted the lives of 920,884 beneficiaries, echoing the spirit of Ramadan throughout the year. With this season of giving upon us, we humbly invite you to continue your tradition of generosity by considering a donation this Ramadan. Your previous Zakat contributions have been a beacon of hope, and we are hopeful for your support once again to extend our reach and deepen our impact.

This email wasn't just addressing Adam by name - it referenced his specific donation history, geographical context, preferred causes, and positioned his contribution relative to other donors in his area.

Key Learnings

1. Personalisation drives engagement: The significant increase in donations demonstrates that donors respond positively when communications reflect their individual relationship with the charity.
2. AI can work with existing infrastructure: The solution was implemented without requiring changes to the website, CRM, or other systems.
3. Context matters: Understanding the specific cultural and religious contexts of donors (such as Ramadan and Zakat) enabled more meaningful communications.
4. Quality over quantity: Rather than competing on volume during Ramadan, Muslim Charity stood out through relevance and personalisation.

Conclusion

The partnership between Muslim Charity and Giving Analytics demonstrates how AI-powered personalisation can transform fundraising results, even for organisations with limited resources and legacy systems. By deeply understanding their donors and leveraging technology to communicate in a more meaningful way, Muslim Charity was able to significantly increase donation rates during their most critical fundraising period.

For charities looking to enhance their donor relationships, this case study suggests that personalisation at scale is not only possible but potentially transformative for fundraising outcomes.