Assalaamu Alaikkum Brothers,
Welcome to TMAGIC - Tamil Muslim Association of Greater Islamic Chicago. The objective of this group is to bring the Chicagoland Tamil Muslims together and initiate some creative Islamic programs so InshaAllah we could be better prepared for the Hereafter.
Mission of TMAGIC - To build a strong network of Muslims to support each other and leverage our resources to promote Muslims in Tamil Nadu achieve professional goals with a focus on providing financial assistance to the economically underprivileged.
Thought Process
Focus Area for financial help
- Priority for professional higher education
- School Education
- To be expanded to non-educational needs like medical at a later stage based on our financial status/success.
- Proof of educational track record - +2 Mark Sheet, 10th Mark Sheet, School exam score cards
- Recommendation letter from class teacher or school principal/head master. Contact details of person providing recommendation letter (Phone Number / email - if any)
- State purpose of the financial aid and the amount required - Initial Admission fees for the college, 1st yr college fees, help with capitation fees etc.
- Background information on the candidate - Name, Age, Current education, School, City, Family background / Financial background of the family, Is the candidate known in person by any one of the TMAGIC brothers or their relatives/friends.
- Application Form - An application form is being created to collect the required information from the prospective students. Anyone recommending a student will be required to fill this form on behalf of the student. Standardized application form allows us to collect consistent information from all student applicants. This form will be published to the team / web in few days.
Working Committee
- Working committee to consist of 2 brothers.
- Working committee to be selected on a quarterly basis. Volunteers to be drawn from a lot of interested brothers names.
- Working Committee will be responsible for selecting 1 or more students who will benefit financially during that qtr. Working committee to follow the above said criteria on selecting an student for financial help. Look for additional guidelines listed below.
- Working Committee need to update the group via email once a student is confirmed for financial aid for that qtr.
Additional Guidelines for Working Committee
- If the financial help for an student is above Rs.1,00,000 then working committee to involve the Advisory Committee on the decision making process.
- Any candidate who can't be qualified/selected for a particular quarter can be added to a wait list to be considered for later funding.
- Working committee to take into consideration any financial commitment that has been made on a recurring basis for any students before making the decision for that qtr.
- Working committee is responsible in authenticating the request for any financial help. Any help can and should be provided by other brothers if requested by Working committee in helping to identify how genuine is the financial aid request.
Advisory Committee
- Advisory Committee to consist of 2 brothers.
- Advisory Committee to be selected on a Yearly basis. Volunteers to be drawn from a lot of interested brothers' names.
- Advisory Committee will be responsible for smooth transition of accounts/activities between outgoing/incoming Working Committee every quarter.
- Advisory Committee along with current qtr Working Committee will be responsible for selecting Working Committee for upcoming qtr. This includes sending email to the group asking for Volunteers and selecting 2 brothers from the lot via a draw. Selecting Volunteers for upcoming quarter can be done during our quarterly TMAGIC mtg if the mtg happens in time.
- 1 brother in Advisory Committee will be responsible for Account Management. This brother will be responsible for collecting funds from brothers pledging on monthly basis, keeping track of expenses, providing status updates to the group on monthly basis on the financial status.
- TMAGIC group to meet at the min every 3 months to discuss the progress that has been made as group and also an for an update from Working/Advisory committee on the current status.
- Quarterly updates at the meeting to include what hurdles we faced, what can be improved/changed in the process etc.
Below are the three options suggested for collecting funds from brothers.
- 1st Option: Recurring monthly contribution from brothers. This is totally voluntary and no compulsion on anyone. Commitment from interested brothers to donate a certain amount on monthly basis. Suggested amount is $50 but it can be low or high as desired by the individual. Recurring monthly contribution provides a steady inflow of funds and allows for easier planning/execution. Monthly contribution to be provided via Post Dated Checks or by Cash to the brother who is handling Account Management.
- 2nd Option: Collect funds from the group based on the current financial needs. This option is more of on demand basis, when we have a identified an eligible student looking for financial help, the Working Committee will email the total amount that is required to support the student to the entire group and will look for support from the group to collect the required amount. With this option collection of the funds can take time based on the timely response/commitment from the group.
- 3rd Option: Brothers are more than welcome to donate on non-recurring basis as well, as and when it is possible for them.
- Anyone part of the TMAGIC group can nominate a student for financial help. Nominating brother should try and gather as much as information possible about the candidate before approaching the working committee.
- Information required/requested is listed under "Information required from someone seeking Financial Help" section above.
- Nominating brother to contact the working committee with the required information and to work with the working committee if any additional information is requested.
- Working committee contacts will be emailed to group on quarterly basis and will also be listed in the TMAGIC blog/Web site.
