105 Days to Ramadan

Salam everyone! I hope you’re all doing well. Welcome to the next round of the Sunan Weekly Roundup!

This week I’ve been thinking about Buc-ee’s.

A few months ago, we were driving to Knoxville, Tennessee, to visit Shaykh Hassan Lachheb at Tayseer Seminary. Hundreds of miles out, we started seeing the Buc-ee’s billboards. They built up the anticipation of what we would experience. We started planning around it, coordinating our stops so that when we stopped, it would be at the Buc-ee’s.

When I finally walked in, it lived up to every sign. Clean bathrooms. Spaces throughout where we could easily and comfortably pray. So many fuel pumps. It was almost like an Apple Store experience at a convenience shop. You could feel the thought and the intention that went into building it.

Since that trip, I’ve been fascinated by their marketing. One Buc-ee’s billboard near the Wisconsin and Illinois border points to a store 469 miles away in Kentucky. But the billboards only work because the store delivers. You pull in after hundreds of miles of signs, and the experience keeps the promise.

This really got me thinking about our Islamic institutions.

What if Ramadan is the destination?

Imagine the Buc-ee’s experience is the beautiful prophetic, spiritual experience of Ramadan. The billboards are the gentle reminders we should be sending our community and our constituents right now, to get them ready and get them excited.

That way, when the month comes, it’s not “Oh shoot, it’s here. What do I do?” It’s the moment we approach with a game plan.

Ramadan is expected to begin around February 8. As I write this, that’s 105 days out.

There’s a beautiful hadith where Usama ibn Zayd asked the Prophet, peace be upon him, why he fasted more in Sha’ban than in any other month. He said it’s a month people neglect, between Rajab and Ramadan. Those months are our boot camp.

The signs get closer together

It’s exactly how Buc-ee’s does it. The first sign shows up hundreds of miles out, and they come closer together as you get near. Rajab is that first sign.

For our institutions, Ramadan is the Super Bowl. After nine years of marketing with leading Islamic institutions, I’ve seen what a head start does. The organizations that start 90 days out provide the greatest value, and as a result, they raise more funds. They look critically at every touch point a person has with them and ask: how can we do this better, with ihsan?

One organization we worked with did exactly this. Together we built a content game plan and a value proposition framework well ahead of Ramadan. From engagement to consumption to donations, they saw easily a 20% to 25% increase over the previous Ramadan.

I’ve seen the other side too. An organization reached out to us at the very last minute, scrambling and playing small. Their entire game plan walking into Ramadan was to match last year’s numbers. Nothing was intentional. It was donations, donations, donations, and the value just wasn’t there.

Funds are the byproduct

Nobody pulls into Buc-ee’s for the billboard. They pull in because of what’s waiting inside. Our job is to deliver value with our utmost best, with ihsan, not with the primary goal of raising funds. Raising funds should be the byproduct.

Whether you’re in ecommerce, fintech or a local masjid serving your community, the question is the same. What can I provide my community now that’s going to allow them, insha’Allah, to have the greatest Ramadan ever?

Be a bridge

The goal of Ramadan is not to maximize my profit or my donations. The goal should be: How can I, insha’Allah, be a bridge that helps you get closer to Allah and His Messenger? A bridge that brings us closer to the orphans we’re supporting? A bridge that gives our community the most beautiful experience in tahajjud prayer? A bridge that allows people to have a beautiful Ramadan?

105 days. Your first billboard should go up this week.

Time to Level Up!

Sajjad Husain
Founder & CEO, Sunan Designs