Partners

This doc is the non-obvious channel inventory. Vendor credits live in Sponsors; cash grants in Grants; competitions in Competitions. What's here is everything else — the partnerships that aren't a formal application but require relationship work.

Last verified: 2026-05-18.

Executive summary

We earn support by being useful to people whose mission overlaps ours. The audiences below sit outside the formal grant/accelerator/VC tracks. Each requires a different opening move: a ministry meeting starts with a memo, a CSR pitch starts with an existing employee referral, an NGO partnership starts with a co-delivery pilot.

We surface here several less-obvious channels the team often overlooks: Awqaf (religious endowments), Islamic Development Bank, diaspora bonds, Erasmus+ capacity building, Global Partnership for Education, EU Horizon, and corporate venture arms.

Audience taxonomy

A. Government ministries

Status legend: Not yet | Watching | Memo drafted | Meeting requested | Meeting held | Pilot agreed | Procurement opened.

Sudan

Saudi Arabia

Other MENA + Africa

How to approach a ministry: never cold-email a minister. Channels are:

1. Pilot principal (King Fahad) writes a referral letter to the GE office.
2. Diplomatic mission (Dutch embassy, German GIZ office, UK FCDO) introduces us as an OSS-for-public-good case.
3. A multilateral (UNESCO, UNICEF) co-signs a project memo with us.

B. Corporate CSR programs

CSR budgets are real and underspent. Each MENA conglomerate has an education-focused arm.

How to approach CSR: never email a generic CSR mailbox. The channel is:

1. Find an employee at the company who attended a school we work with → ask for a CSR referral.
2. Pitch CSR as a marketing co-benefit (their logo on parent communications).
3. Tie the partnership to a measurable outcome (X schools, Y students reached, Z report-back).

C. International NGOs

NGOs often need digital infrastructure for the schools/programs they run. We are a delivery partner.

How to approach NGOs: lead with co-delivery. NGOs run programs; they need software to operate them. We are not asking for a grant — we are pitching to be their tech partner on existing programs.

D. Telcos (distribution + CSR + integration)

Many telcos run their own venture/innovation arms (STC Pay, Etisalat Digital, Zain Innovation Campus). Worth pitching to both the CSR side and the venture side.

E. Banks (payment integration + distribution)

Many banks have a venture arm (Riyad Capital, Emirates NBD Capital, QNB Capital) — useful for capital, not just integration.

F. Religious endowments (Awqaf) and Islamic finance

This is a major non-obvious channel for an Arabic-first, Sudan-anchored EdTech with an explicit Mudaraba/Shirkat al-A'mal/Waqf doctrinal layer in Shared Economy.

How to approach Awqaf / IsDB: lead with the doctrinal layer (Mudaraba, Shirkat al-A'mal, Waqf). Show that the contributor model is Islamic-finance-compliant. The team's Sudanese roots are an asset here.

G. Public figures and individuals

We don't ask famous people for money. We ask them for 2 things: warm intros, and public endorsements (which then unlock funder attention).

Build the advisor bench as a Phase 2 deliverable. Empty today.

H. Diaspora and community

Sudanese diaspora is large (UK, US, GCC, Canada, Australia) and motivated by post-conflict reconstruction. Two structures:

1. Diaspora bonds / equity crowdfunding — LaunchGood (Muslim crowdfunding), Wefunder, Republic, Seedrs. Threshold: needs a US/UK entity.
2. Sudanese diaspora community organizations — Sudanese Engineering Society (London, DC), Sudan-American Foundation, Sudanese diaspora UK. Capital is small but social signal is high.

I. Less-obvious channels (what we don't yet see)

These channels are easy to miss. Surfacing here so we can add them to the pipeline.

How to approach each audience

Anti-patterns

• Mass-mailing a ministry mailbox. It goes to a clerk. The minister does not have email.
• Asking CSR for cash up-front. Pitch the program; ask for the partnership; cash follows the relationship.
• Treating NGOs like grant funders. Most NGOs spend, they don't fund. Pitch co-delivery.
• Using a public figure's name without permission. Always double-opt-in.
• Crowdfunding before you have a community. A launched-and-failed campaign is worse than no campaign.

Related

• Fundraising — strategy hub
• Grants — cash-grant alternative
• Sponsors — vendor credit alternative
• Competitions — visibility alternative
• Universities — academic partnership alternative
• Outreach — T4, T6, T7, T8, T19
• Shared Economy — Mudaraba / Shirkat al-A'mal / Waqf doctrinal layer

Sources

• Islamic Development Bank
• Global Partnership for Education
• Education Cannot Wait
• Erasmus+ Capacity Building
• EU Horizon Europe
• UNICEF Sudan
• UNESCO Sudan TEP
• LaunchGood
• Dubai Cares
• Education Above All Foundation