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Donor FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

SECTION A — Tax and Legal 

Is my donation tax-deductible?

Yes — for U.S. donors
Spring of Dignity International is incorporated as a Virginia nonstock nonprofit corporation and has applied for recognition as a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Once our IRS determination letter is issued, all qualifying donations will be fully tax-deductible to the extent permitted by U.S. law.
We will display our 501(c)(3) status and Employer Identification Number (EIN) clearly on our website and on every donation receipt once confirmed. If you give before our determination letter is received, you will receive an updated receipt once our status is approved — contributions made after our incorporation date are covered retroactively.
Canadian donors: Spring of Dignity International Canada is being registered in Ontario and will apply for CRA charitable status. Once approved, Canadian donors will receive official Canadian tax receipts. We will update this page when Canadian charitable status is confirmed.

Yes — with full asnaf documentation
Yes. SDI accepts Zakat donations and distributes them exclusively to verified Zakat-eligible recipients in accordance with our published Zakat Policy, which is grounded in the contemporary scholarly consensus of Shaykh Yusuf al-Qaradawi's Fiqh az-Zakah and the rulings of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy, AMJA, and Egypt's Dar al-Ifta.
All Zakat funds are held in a strictly segregated account, distributed only to verified asnaf recipients — primarily Al-Fuqara (the poor), Al-Masakin (the needy), Ibn al-Sabil (displaced persons), and Fi Sabilillah (cause of Allah) — and reported separately in our Annual Zakat Impact Report.
When making a donation, please clearly designate your gift as Zakat so we can ensure it is managed accordingly. Our full Zakat Policy is available on our website.

Spring of Dignity International is incorporated as a nonstock nonprofit corporation in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, under the Virginia Nonstock Corporation Act (Va. Code Ann. § 13.1-801 et seq.). Our registered office is in Ashburn, Virginia.
An affiliated entity, Spring of Dignity International Canada, is being incorporated in the Province of Ontario, Canada, under the Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act, 2010.You can verify our Virginia registration at any time through the Virginia State Corporation Commission's public database at cis.scc.virginia.gov.

SECTION B — Your Donation

Can I give monthly?

Yes — and we encourage it
Monthly giving is the most powerful way to support our work. Regular, predictable donations allow us to plan programs, commit to partners, and sustain support for beneficiaries without interruption. A family receiving livelihoods support does not benefit from one payment — they need sustained engagement over months.
You can set up a monthly donation through our website. You can cancel, pause, or adjust your monthly gift at any time with no minimum commitment period. Monthly donors receive quarterly program updates showing exactly how their cumulative giving has created impact.
Monthly donors who give $25 or more per month are enrolled in our Dignity Circle — our community of sustained supporters who receive priority access to program updates, annual impact calls, and direct communications from our program team in the field.

At least 75% of every dollar goes directly to program delivery — reaching beneficiaries with livelihoods support, health and nutrition services, education, and protection. Up to 15% covers program support costs including monitoring, partner management, and field coordination. A maximum of 10% funds organizational administration and governance.
If you designate your gift for a specific program or country — for example, Gaza emergency relief or Lebanon livelihoods — we honor that designation without exception. We never redirect designated funds to other purposes without your explicit consent.
We publish our audited financial statements and IRS Form 990 publicly. You can always see exactly how the funds entrusted to us were spent.

Yes. You can designate your donation for Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, or our U.S. refugee integration programs. Designated donations are tracked by program code and spent only on the purpose you specified.
If the program you designated cannot proceed as planned — for example due to access constraints — we will contact you before reallocating your gift. You can choose to redirect it or request a refund within 30 days.
Undesignated donations go to our general fund, which the Board allocates to the highest-priority needs across our programs.

Yes. Every donor receives an official donation receipt within five business days of their gift by email. The receipt includes the amount, date, donation designation, our EIN, and a statement confirming no goods or services were provided in exchange for the gift.
All donors also receive an annual giving summary in January covering their total contributions for the previous calendar year, which you can use for tax filing purposes.

SECTION C — Trust and Accountability 

Why should I trust a new organization?

That is exactly the right question to ask. Here is our honest answer.
Our founders are not new to this work. The people behind Spring of Dignity International have collectively led humanitarian programs at Action Against Hunger, Save the Children, CARE, Relief International, Cordaid, and Blumont — with over $300 million in programs delivered across the Middle East, Africa, and North America. We are not learning as we go. We are applying decades of field experience to a new organization built with the governance structures those institutions took decades to develop.
Our governance is built for accountability from day one. We have a five-member Board of Directors, adopted Bylaws aligned with Virginia nonprofit law, a Program Quality Manual based on CHS and SPHERE standards, a Zakat Policy grounded in scholarly consensus, and a Financial Stewardship Statement committing us to specific, measurable financial ratios — before we have spent a single donor dollar.
We welcome scrutiny. Our Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws, financial statements, and IRS Form 990 are publicly available. We are registered with the Virginia State Corporation Commission. We commit to an annual independent audit and public financial reporting. If we fall short, we will say so.
New organizations are where transformation happens. Every organization you trust today was once brand new. What matters is not age — it is the integrity of the people leading it and the systems holding them accountable. We invite you to judge us on both.

We have built a multi-layered financial control system that includes:

  • Dual authorization for all payments above $10,000 — two officers must independently approve every significant transaction
  • OFAC sanctions screening of all partners, vendors, and key personnel before any funds are transferred
  • Signed Project Agreements before any partner receives funds — no exceptions
  • Post-distribution monitoring within four weeks of every disbursement confirming fund utilization
  • Annual independent audit by a licensed CPA with a separate restricted fund audit
  • A confidential whistleblower channel for staff, partners, and community members to report concerns with full protection against retaliation

Every donor who gives $1,000 or more in a calendar year receives a personal Annual Donor Impact Report in October, showing how their cumulative giving contributed to program outcomes by country and sector.
All donors receive quarterly email program updates with beneficiary stories, data from the field, and financial summaries. Our audited financial statements and IRS Form 990 are publicly available on our website. Any donor can contact us directly at any time to ask how their gift was used and we will respond within 10 business days.

SECTION D — Programs

Where does SDI work?

In Year One (July 2026 to June 2027) SDI operates in the United States, Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria.
United States: Workforce integration and livelihoods support for newly arrived refugee and immigrant families in the Washington D.C. and Northern Virginia corridor.
Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria: Livelihoods programs including income-generating activities and small enterprise support, alongside health and nutrition, education and skills, and protection programs, implemented through verified local partners who pass our rigorous four-step partner selection process.
Year Two goal (2027-2028): Expansion to Yemen and the Horn of Africa, building on our founding team's direct operational experience in both contexts.

SDI exists to serve the most marginalized — those who fall through the gaps of other programs and whose dignity is most at risk. Our priority beneficiaries are:

  • Widows and single mothers carrying the full economic burden of their households after conflict, displacement, or loss
  • Orphans and vulnerable children, particularly those aging out of child protection support into a world with no economic safety net
  • Youth aged 18 to 30 facing unemployment rates above 50% in the contexts we work
  • Persons with disabilities excluded from mainstream livelihoods programs
  • Newly displaced or recently returned families with no existing income source

We serve people of all backgrounds, religions, and nationalities in the geographies where we operate.

Every implementing partner goes through our mandatory four-step selection process before any agreement is signed or any funds transferred:
Step 1 — Cluster consultation: We consult with the relevant humanitarian cluster lead in-country to confirm the partner is recognized, has no performance concerns, and that our planned program does not duplicate existing work.
Step 2 — Sanctions screening: Every partner and their key personnel are screened against the U.S. Treasury OFAC SDN list, SAM.gov federal exclusions, and the UN Security Council sanctions list before any engagement.
Step 3 — Organizational Capacity Assessment (OCA): A structured assessment of the partner’s governance, financial management, program quality, and safeguarding capacity. Partners must score at least 65% overall and 80% on safeguarding to be eligible.
Step 4 — Strategic alignment and conflict of interest review: We confirm the partner shares our commitment to dignity, inclusion, and accountability — and that no SDI director, officer, or staff member has a personal relationship with the partner that could create a conflict of interest.

STILL HAVE A QUESTION?

Our team responds to all donor inquiries within two business days.

[email protected]  ·  www.springofdignity.org  ·  Ashburn, Virginia, USA

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