Building readiness before Ramadan

From August 2025 to January 2026, MAC strengthened centre readiness through structured planning, clearer alignment and practical local preparation, giving centre managers six months to review priorities, identify operational requirements and build capacity for Ramadan delivery.

Readiness varied. Some centres had established planning routines and clearly assigned responsibilities; others worked within shorter timelines or with more limited capacity. The phase underscored the value of giving teams enough time to understand expectations, assign accountabilities and prepare for the scale and pace of Ramadan.

Aligning centres around one MAC identity

• Ramadan action-plan meetings, preparation sessions, imam dashboard discussions and MAC Centres Connect meetings aligned centre teams on national priorities, khatib planning, volunteer engagement, communications and operational requirements
• These touchpoints introduced Istiqāma as the shared Ramadan theme
• Objective: reinforce one MAC identity while letting each centre respond to its local community context

What the preparation period showed

• Planning is strongest when centre teams coordinate, exchange practical experience and align early on shared priorities
• A more consistent process would support earlier khatib planning, clearer Istiqāma integration, stronger volunteer support and better preparation for community-service expectations
• Simple reporting tools would help managers communicate needs, identify effective practices and request support

Strengthening national capacity for delivery

• Begin Ramadan planning early enough to align local calendars, khatibs, volunteers, youth promoters, theme integration, khatira preparation and communications
• Develop a simple khutbah and khatira toolkit so centres prepare earlier and align messaging with Istiqāma
• Use preparation meetings to address volunteer readiness, programming, youth promotion and khatira preparation
• Prepare donor communication

Management meetings across the Ramadan cycle 83 meetings in total

Worship, learning, service and belonging in action

Centres delivered worship, learning, service and community-building activity: daily prayers, Quran circles, taraweeh reflections, youth activities, family nights, community iftars, camps, competitions, food drives and last-ten-night programs, each drawing on its local strengths.

Participation and volunteer effort grew

• Approximately 885 volunteers contributed to Ramadan 2026
• MAC strengthened alignment with volunteers through open halaqas and enhanced onboarding on its mission and programs
• Appreciation initiatives recognized contributions and supported long-term engagement

Centre strengths on record

Toronto daily iftar service · BIC donor communication and children’s Ramadan program · CIIC youth and volunteer engagement · Al-Salam youth concentration · Kitchener online, in-person and pre-Ramadan preparation

Learning, accountability and preparation for 1448

Plan-review meetings helped centre managers understand what worked, what varied across centres and what should improve. Managers shared experience in managing programs, facilities, volunteers, donors and community relationships, surfacing common challenges and the different approaches used across MAC.

Every centre has its own local reality, yet centres face many similar challenges. By sharing honest experience, managers and directors can avoid repeating mistakes, improve successful practices and strengthen MAC’s work.

What the review showed

• Centres need more opportunities to learn from one another — the most important lesson
• Strengths are unevenly spread: some centres are strong in volunteer management, youth programs, fundraising, facility operations, Ramadan planning, community partnerships or family programs, while others face challenges in the same areas
• When managers share what worked, what did not and what they would do differently, local experience becomes useful knowledge for the whole organization
• Istiqāma: activity is well evidenced, impact is not yet measured

Direction for Ramadan 1448

• Make experience-sharing a regular part of managers’ meetings, not only a year-end activity
• Shift from a silo perspective to a cross-functional approach where centres learn from one another and strengthen delivery as one MAC
• Keep centres focused on strengthening family and community relationships through programs, under one MAC identity
• Build the missing evidence: measures for theme impact and attendance outcomes

Programs by centre program record · 18 centres · click a heading to sort, a row to open the centre

Prayer and volunteer record 21 centres · report order, not ranked

Source workbooks

Exports

Where the report differs from itself

Rule applied throughout: headline figures follow the narrative; per-centre figures follow the centre tables. Nothing is estimated or filled in. Each KPI card carries its formula (ƒ), recomputed live from the data on this page.

How centres are matched

The report keeps two rosters: 18 centres in the program record and 21 in the prayer and volunteer record. The dashboard links a centre across both only where the name or acronym is the same in both records; everything else stays separate rather than guessed.

Keyboard

← → switch sections · O back to overview · / find a centre · F show or hide formulas · Esc close the centre panel · browser Back also works