I have attached some material to help you in promoting the IOU in your city and beyond if you have the time and energy.
The following are a few suggestions of possible steps to take, after making sincere du’aa to Allaah that He guides us straight, helps us purify our intentions and gives barakah to our works:
Before actually beginning the steps you should familiarize yourself with the IOU by going to the website and reading all the information there and registering yourself (if you have time). Any questions you have concerning the IOU can be directed to my assistant, Sameer Khan, at asst.dean@
STEPS:
1. Finding Contacts to Email IOU Promotional Information
Go to IslamicFinder.org (.com) and type in youe city. Listed under the prayer times, are the masjids in the city and in surrounding cities, so after clicking "more" a few times (located at the bottom of each list) they show a master list of organizations registered, masjids, businesses, clubs, etc. Then copy/paste the information into a list which may take a couple hours and make for yourself a master list of people and organizations to contact all around the city in order to present and disseminate the information in sha Allah. This may be done for any country as Islamicfinder.com is comprehensive.
2. The embedded video promo at the end of this mail can circulated among your internet email and facebook contacts to promote the IOU (http://www.youtube.com/watch?
3. I would suggest attending local Islamic conferences and seminars and setting up a booth or stall to distribute brochures, posters, flyers and information. Print out copies of the IOU brochures and make postcard-sized (A6) flyers for easy distribution. All reasonable costs will be borne by the IOU. Perhaps the best route for distribution which requires the least manpower for conferences is to pay the organizers to have our A5 or A6 flyer put in every conference folder/pack distributed to all who attend the conference. However, do check with the IOU admin for the official okay for anything involving costs.
4. Contact and visit Islamic International Schools, madrasahs and other institutes where Muslims students study and give power-point presentations and distribute IOU literature and leaflets to the staff and students.
5. Meet with Muslim student association officials at local university campuses and learning institutes in order to gain their support.
6. Put posters in the various Muslim owned businesses and institutions around your city, as well as in the local mosques, and schools.
7. Try to engage popular local Muslim spokesmen and spokeswomen, scholars and activists to inform their followers and their circles of contacts.
8. Use the databases of these institutions to send the flyer and promo videos on the net.
9. Place ads in local newspapers and magazines periodically. Again, IOU will bear all reasonable financial responsibilities of advertisements. Arrange press interviews and press releases to utilize free advertisement opportunities. I would suggest that you make a calling card with the IOU logo with your title as “local marketing coordinator”.
10. Put ads on local radio and TV stations which are listened to or watched by primarily by English speaking Muslim locals. Particular care needs to be taken for TV ads as these tend to be the most expensive. So, this route should only be taken if special arrangements have been made for either free or at a greatly reduced cost.
11. Make an action plan for advertisement and marketing based on your local priorities and indicate the time periods required for execution for each effort in order to guide your steps and make them consistent.
12. It is also possible to set up study centers at local institutions where students can save on internet costs.
13. Printing t-shirts with the IOU logo on the back and its motto “Changing the Nation through Education” on the front, and selling or giving them away free is also another method of popularizing the University.
May Allaah bless our efforts with His Divine Grace by putting them in our scale of good deeds and by erasing an equivalent amount or more from our scale of evil deeds.
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Chancellor of Islamic Online University (www.islamiconlineuniversity.
Head of College of Dawah (English Branch), Omdurman Islamic University, Sudan
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