Ongoing
📈 Economy & livelihoods
Sustainable Waqf & Endowment Models for Community Institutions in Ethiopia
From ad-hoc appeals to perpetual endowments
A study of perpetual endowment (waqf) funding versus ad-hoc donation drives for the upkeep of mosques and community schools in Ethiopia. It asks how endowment models can provide predictable, self-sustaining revenue instead of repeated emergency appeals.
📋 Overview
Many Ethiopian community institutions — mosques, madrasas and community schools — rely on irregular, ad-hoc fundraising to cover recurring costs such as salaries, utilities and maintenance. This project reviews historic and contemporary waqf (endowment) practice and models how a managed endowment, invested transparently, could generate a steady annual return in ETB to cover upkeep.
Scope includes governance and trustee structures, transparency and reporting to donors, halal investment options available in Ethiopia, and a comparison of total giving required under an endowment model versus the current ad-hoc model over a ten-year horizon.