Donate to the needy, right cause

To regulate charitable work and to ensure that donations are used for the intended purposes, the Ministry of Social Development has several regulations to prevent malpractices.
The Ministry of Social Development (MoSD) issued the Regulations for Public Fundraising Licences under Ministerial Decision No 336/2024 to provide a regulatory framework for governing charities.
Hamoud bin Mardad al Shabibi, the MoSD spokesperson, said that only registered civil society organisations, as stipulated in the Civil Society Organisations Law issued by Royal Decree No 14/2000, as well as social development committees and volunteer teams licensed by the ministry, are permitted to collect funds from the public.
In 2023, the ministry launched Jood, an official platform that brings together all licensed volunteer teams, charitable societies and charitable institutions authorised to collect funds from the public. Donations can be made through the platform based on each team's or society's charitable initiatives, or to support their relief campaigns, thus ensuring that donations reach their intended beneficiaries safely.
Currently, the platform lists 64 licensed volunteer teams, 31 charitable societies and 5 endowment institutions. Each licensed association or entity is subject to rigorous oversight, including audits of its accounts, performance evaluations, and adherence to transparency and accountability standards. The ministry does not grant any licences to foreign associations or institutions not registered in Oman to collect funds. The number of initiatives registered on the Jood platform has reached approximately 1,171.
Volunteer teams also launch urgent relief campaigns through the same platform for emergency situations to raise funds. To ensure that donations reach their intended beneficiaries, the teams and associations conduct thorough case studies and verify the circumstances before disbursing aid. The process begins by receiving assistance requests through official channels, followed by a study of the beneficiaries' social and financial circumstances through the collection of supporting documents. Field visits may be conducted to verify living conditions when necessary, and aid disbursement is approved according to established criteria and regulations. Confidentiality and full respect for beneficiaries' privacy are maintained at every stage. Article (8) of the Regulations for the Supervision of Non-Profit Associations and Bodies concerning Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing emphasises the association's obligation to collect the necessary information about beneficiaries and maintain records of their identities and information.
Furthermore, according to Article (26) of the Regulations for Public Fundraising Licences, the fundraising entity must establish a digital record documenting all fundraising activities, the funds collected and how they were disbursed.
The spokesperson also indicated that each volunteer team or charitable organisation has a bank account registered on the Jood platform specifically for collecting donations.
Since its launch until the end of the first half of 2025, the platform has attracted over 200,000 donors, with total donations exceeding RO 3.7 million.
Al Shabibi clarified that individuals are not permitted to collect funds or donations from the public.
In the event of detecting any unlicensed campaign, the ministry takes a series of measures, including summoning the entity or individual collecting the funds, informing them of the applicable legal procedures. The ministry then coordinates with banks within Oman. If funds are found to have been collected without following norms, they are confiscated. Following this, the person who collected the funds is required to sign a declaration not to repeat the act of collecting funds without obtaining a licence. If the person fails to comply with the procedures, they are referred to the Public Prosecution for further action. These measures are being taken to ensure that donations reach their intended recipients safely and to protect funds from being misused for purposes that do not align with the values ​​and principles of charity.