Moroccan Charities Struggle, Evolve to Assist During Corona Pandemic

Agadir – Faced with the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, charity organizations have had to alter their strategies. Traditionally the winter holidays mark the highest charity contributions in the UK.

While Ramadan is the highest charity period for Moroccans, winter campaigns to aid rural Moroccans living in poverty under extreme weather conditions are a critical time for nonprofit organizations.

At the onset of the COVID-19 crisis in March 2020, people around the world rallied to offer support. In the UK, for example, 2020 saw more people donate and give higher donation sums than in 2019. £11.3 billion was donated in 2020, an increase from the £10.6 billion that was donated in 2019, according to a report by Charities Aid Foundation (CAF).

The UK’s boost in donations continued through July 2020. Then there was a significant drop-off in donations. 2021 was at the three-years lowest point.

Initially, there was speculation that donations abroad would decrease as donors focused on supporting the NHS and families affected by COVID-19. But that was not the case.

Donations from abroad

A study by Pierre-Guillaume Méon and Philip Verwimp found that traumatic events can make people locally affected more empathic to international crises, as has been the case with the Corona pandemic. Some donors recognized that the impact of the pandemic would more severely affect communities already living in poverty.

Still, as all donations decreased in the UK, relief was equally withheld from those in need, regardless of location.

Some Moroccan nonprofits have seen the ripple effects of the economic crisis and general decreases in donations.

“Mobadiroun” (initiators) of Aourir in the Agadir-Souss region is one such nonprofit. Started in 2014 by several high school friends, they were officially registered as a nonprofit in 2016 and now have over two dozen members.

In the first several years of their social enterprises, Mobadiroun, commonly known as “Idiots for Good” (IFG), ran several campaigns collecting school and winter supplies for rural communities around Agadir. With so much need in their area, they also hosted street clean-ups, soft skills workshops, and began their “Big Projects.”

The “Big Project” is their annual focus on building or completing partially built homes for families in great need. The current Big Project 4 is building a home for a family whose father cannot work and live in a dilapidated house without electricity.

Nearly all of Mobadiroun’s funding comes from local donors in Aourir, who as a community rely heavily on fishing and tourist income. These sectors are greatly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning fewer donations for the group.

The nonprofit restructured its priorities when faced with fewer resources. Winter 2021/2022 was the first time the group was unable to run both their Big Project and a winter relief drive.

Moroccan charities must digitalize

Mobadiroun member Hafida Boulahyaoui, along with other members and friends, did not want to abandon a winter campaign for 2021/2022. With permission from authorities, they mobilized to collect items and passed them along to 30 rural-based families in the region. Boulahyaoui told Morocco World News that while her group distributed warm clothes and food baskets, families were more desperate for food than winter clothes.

In the meantime, Mobadiroun has not entirely stopped providing urgent needs to the community. Mobadiroun’s Vice-President Tawfiq Birouaine explained that “when we find people who offer to cover 50% of the campaign, we don’t hesitate.”

According to the Economic Observatory, “Charities that were best placed to embrace alternative, online fundraising strategies are likely to have done much better during the pandemic.”

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, Mobadiroun has run two food-drive campaigns in cooperation with Pikala Bikes of Marrakech and an informal women’s mosque group in the UK. Though neither group had run food drives in Morocco before, COVID-19 inspired them to reach out and do so. Both campaigns came about through networking on social media.

Ingenuity is central to improving strategies

Many European and North American retailers host winter charity drives, making it easy to donate directly at the store. Some donors buy items from the retailers, while others drop donations off.

The Economic Observatory also noted that lockdowns in the UK contributed to the reduction of donations in-person but were partially made up for online. In Morocco, in-person donations are still the norm as online contributions lag far behind.

This winter, Marjane and Electroplanet are running “A Warm Winter” campaign, collecting clothing, blankets, and other items for Moroccans in need directly at their stores.

Moroccans, known for their generosity, can easily continue giving charity using traditional and innovative means.