حظر التعاقد مع المشاهير ومؤثري «التواصل» والدعاة دون إذن مسبق

The Ministry of Social Affairs has issued a decision regarding the establishment of certain regulations governing charitable work in Kuwait, emphasizing the commitment to not create any links for collecting donations in favor of intermediaries such as marketing, advertising, and promotional companies, volunteer teams, and others, and limiting the publication of donation collection links to the official website only.

The decision included obligating charitable organizations to record the administrative percentage deducted from all advertisements for licensed projects, whether within the country or external projects, and prohibiting contracts with any advertising and marketing companies and marketers to manage the donation website, in addition to prohibiting contracts with celebrities, social media influencers, and preachers unless with prior approval from the ministry.

The decision, directed by the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Social Affairs, Dr. Khaled Al-Ajmi, to the heads of the boards of directors of Kuwaiti charitable organizations, stated that in line with the ministry's commitment to organizing charitable work in the country, it has been decided to resume granting licenses to charitable organizations to collect donations, provided they adhere to the following regulations and instructions:

– Commitment to collect donations for charitable projects licensed by the ministry that align with its objectives stated in the articles of association.

- Commitment to not create any links for collecting donations in favor of intermediaries such as marketing, advertising, and promotional companies, and volunteer teams, and limiting the publication of donation collection links to the official website only.

- Commitment to obtain prior approval from the ministry if there is a desire to create a donation collection link for a specific case.

- The charitable organization must record the administrative percentage deducted from all advertisements for licensed projects, whether within the country or external projects.

- Prohibition of contracting with any advertising and marketing companies and marketers to manage the donation website.

- Prohibition of contracting with celebrities, social media influencers, and preachers unless with prior approval from the ministry, with an emphasis on the necessity of providing the ministry with a copy of the draft contract that clarifies the duration of the contract, type of service provided, the project subject to the contract, and the financial value of the contract if any, in accordance with the previous circular No. (274).

- It is necessary to include the proceeds of donation collection daily in the automation program for managing charitable organizations and endowments on the next working day, ensuring that the included data covers the value of the donations collected, sources of collection, the deducted administrative percentage, and the net value of the donation.

- Donation collection devices at the locations: The charitable organization must include the daily proceeds from those devices, and the previous applicable regulations regarding the disbursement and deposit of donation amounts in bank accounts apply.

- Bank deductions: The ministry must be provided with a monthly report of the amounts collected according to the specified licensed projects in the deduction report within (7) working days of the following month, clarifying (deduction amounts and the licensed projects subject to the deduction).

- Checks collected from donors: The charitable organization must notify the ministry daily about those checks, including (the value of the check, the donor's name, the project).

- Financial transfers to accounts: The charitable organization must notify the ministry daily about those bank transfers, including (the transfer amount, the donor's name, the project).

We would like to inform you of the following:

- Charitable organizations will be classified—within a month from this date—into the following results (compliant, partially compliant, non-compliant), and the collection of donations will be prohibited for non-compliant entities according to the classification results (attached are the general guidelines for the evaluation process).

- Field inspection teams will be dispatched to the locations to ensure compliance with governance and the implementation of compliance tasks according to the ministry's instructions.

- Relief campaigns outside the country: the following must be adhered to:

- The request for relief campaigns must specify the duration of the campaign, the administrative percentage deducted from donations, and the foreign entities contracted for implementation.

- The ministry will communicate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to decide on the request.

- Obtain the necessary approvals from the official entities in the countries where the relief campaign is taking place.

- The ministry emphasizes that if there are licenses to implement charitable projects in the countries of relief, the charitable organization must provide assistance through its licensed projects without the need to launch a separate relief campaign.

- When launching marketing campaigns inside or outside Kuwait, the conditions mentioned in item (3) above must be adhered to.

- All charitable organizations will be provided with the regulations and instructions governing external financial transfers to implement licensed charitable projects outside the country.

- Commitment to assist cases of various types through the central assistance program - exclusively - with an emphasis on the necessity to expedite assistance procedures and withdraw files through the central assistance program.

- Emphasis on the necessity of contracting with auditors listed in the list of registered auditors with the Capital Markets Authority.

- Commitment to the necessity of having an internal auditor in the organization to audit all financial transactions within the organization.

- Commitment to having a compliance officer and providing the ministry with annual compliance reports.

- Commitment to disclose financial data in accordance with the previous circular No. (194).

Therefore, the ministry emphasizes the necessity of adhering to the aforementioned instructions and regulations, as charitable organizations will be classified according to the compliance measurement (compliant, partially compliant, non-compliant) within a month from this date. In case of violations, the ministry will take legal action against the violating organization, whether by suspending the collection or halting the project in accordance with ministerial decision No. (1/128) of 2016, or dissolution in accordance with Law No. (24) of 1962 regarding clubs and public benefit associations.