Serious giving deserves the rigour of serious investing.
I advise family offices, foundations and charity boards on where their giving should go, how it should be governed, and how to tell whether it worked. Twenty years in the sector, including three as chief executive of Muslim Aid UK.
Funders on one side, charities on the other
Having sat on both sides of the table is the point. I know what a grants committee needs to see, and what it costs a charity to produce it.
Family offices and private donors
Agree a direction across the family, choose the vehicle, write the grant-making policy.
Foundations and grants committees
Terms of reference, scoring, due diligence, monitoring, and a committee that can say no.
Zakat, sadaqah and waqf funds
Ring-fencing, eligibility, distribution policy and reporting that will stand scrutiny.
Strategy that gets decided
A diagnostic, a workshop that takes decisions in the room, and a written summary within a week.
Governance that stands scrutiny
Board reviews, trustee recruitment, and evidence that policies are used, not just written.
When it goes wrong
Support through regulatory inquiries, serious incidents and independent assurance reviews.
Leading it
One-to-one coaching for chief executives, from someone who has done the job.
Most philanthropy fails at the narrowing. A family that wants to fund everything ends up funding nothing well. My first job is to help you choose.
From a good intention to a giving programme you can defend.
Twelve steps in two stages. The first finds what you actually want. The second turns it into a policy, a scorecard every grant is judged against, and a record of what the money achieved.
Muslim Youth Helpline: from a strategy weekend to a board that governs
The situation
A new chief executive, a small board, and a funder that needed the charity's goals for its own investment committee within six weeks. The income plan and the strategy had been written separately and did not connect.
What we did
Pre-reading for every participant, a day of listening, then a facilitated day that voted on goals. I then rewrote the KPIs as outcomes rather than activities and aligned them with the funder's own measures.
What changed
The board signed off goals and KPIs eleven days after the workshop, alongside the funder's proposal. The work continued as coaching for the chief executive, a board policy tracker and agenda, and the recruitment of new trustees.
Notes for trustees, founders and funders
A small practice by design
When you engage Ethical Consulting Group you get me, in the room and on the page. I have run a large international charity, sat on the boards that set sector standards, and chaired grants committees for family offices. I bring in specialist lawyers, accountants and researchers when the work needs them, and I stay accountable for the result.
Governance that only works while you're in the room isn't governance. It's dependency.
Recently speaking atThe Prophetic Strategy Summit, Istanbul · Muslim Impact Forum · Zakāh & Advocacy Fiqh Symposium · Muslim Charities Forum Senior Leadership Retreat · Islamic Impact Investing Summit
Kashif Shabir, Founder and Principal Consultant
Start with a conversation.
Thirty minutes to understand what you are trying to decide. If I can help, a short written proposal follows. If I can't, I will tell you who can.
I reply personally within two working days. Or email kashif@ethicalltd.com.