We often hear from the media or read about how charity organizations and other community institutes leap toward achieving their goals and purpose when they adopt certain measures of administration best practices and/or are joined by a corporate executive who has those skills. Interestingly, in Islamic teaching, the concept of thanks giving encompasses financial activities as well as sharing and employing individuals' knowledge and experience to benefit their communities.

With many of our Masjid and Islamic Centers that have unfavorable financial conditions and/or lack of strategic objectives the questions will rise:

How could it be made possible for those administrating our institutes to seek help from the many Muslim professionals in the area of good business practices?

How can an environment of change be created by which Good Business Practices in Management and Administration are utilized to operate Muslim institutes?

The answer could be in what a group of likeminded Muslim individuals sought by creating the 'Good Management and Administration Practices' grant encouraging and promoting the use of such practices in operating Muslim institutes. The grant was piloted last year and Roswell Community Masjid (RCM) was the winner of the grant's financial prize and, more importantly, the professional support provided for their organizational development. Let us read how the RCM operation leader reflected on the experience.

'The Roswell Community Masjid (RCM) was honored to participate in and win the 1432 grant. Receiving a very generous cash infusion at a critical time in the middle of purchasing and renovating our new facility had immediate and very obvious benefits. However, the real advantage was going through the grant assessment process and getting a very detailed report of the status of our institutional elements. This exercise produced a list of very clear gaps in some of our procedures and opened our eyes to our areas of vulnerability as an organization. That, in and of itself, is also very valuable information to have. I am glad to report that various ways to address these gaps were taken into very serious consideration during the RCM board 3-year strategic planning sessions and that these new procedures will Insha'Allah build a strong foundation for RCM's growth and expansion in the future.

RCM would like to once again thank the people who designed and funded this program for their vision and commitment to improving Islamic Institutions in the Atlanta region.'

Taking into consideration the knowledge gained from the pilot, the 1433 Grant will be rolled out soon for all Atlanta area Masajid to participate. Stay tuned.

Supporting Documents:
1. Grant Presentation and overview
2. Grant Plan

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