No, the story does not need to be new or recent. Inspired Generosity welcomes stories of compassionate generosity from any time in your life. As long as the story is meaningful to you and highlights generosity in some form and is not bound by copyright,  it is eligible for submission.

The Inspired Generosity storytelling showcase aims to create an immersive and engaging experience in each city it visits. While the core elements will be consistent, such as the digital storytelling platform and curated displays, the exhibit will be tailored to reflect the unique cultural and artistic expressions of the local Muslim American community. This may include incorporating traditional art forms, architectural elements, or community-sourced installations to create a sense of familiarity and connection for visitors.

The selection committee for Inspired Generosity is a national volunteer panel comprising individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences related to storytelling, philanthropy, and community engagement. The committee members will review all submitted stories and select up to 75 for the national showcase.

As for the host committee, it will be formed locally in each city where the exhibit is scheduled to take place. The host committee will work closely with the Inspired Generosity team to plan and execute the exhibit, ensuring it resonates with the local community and meets logistical requirements.

All submitted stories will initially be part of the national digital storytelling platform, accessible online to a global audience beginning in 2025. From this collection, a curated selection of up to 75 stories will be chosen for the national showcase, which will be exhibited in various cities across the country.

In addition to the national stories, Inspired Generosity will also highlight local stories in each host city. These local stories will be sourced from the respective communities and integrated into the exhibit, providing a more personalized and relatable experience for visitors from that area.

You won’t work alone when you bring Inspired Generosity (IG) to your community. The IG team will share a playbook of sorts and walk alongside your local host committee to launch a successful storytelling showcase. While our team is here to help, we do ask that host cities for Inspired Generosityhave some key pieces in place:

•  A strong local partner organization or community group willing to bring together the host committee and  assist with the planning and execution efforts. This includes: local fundraising, helping to organize special events around the showcase, local marketing, and educational programming. 
• An accessible venue that can accommodate the exhibit in some form and associated educational programming for four to six weeks.
• Demonstrated community interest and engagement from institutional philanthropy and the local Muslim American community.
• Alignment with the overall mission and values of Inspired Generosity, promoting inclusivity, empathy, and a celebration of diversity.

Interested organizations or communities can inquire about hosting opportunities by contacting the Inspired Generosity team directly at [email protected].

Inspired Generosity is working with several scholars across the country to learn from the storytelling showcase. While we are excited to amplify Muslim American stories of generosity and help reshape the public narrative, our primary goal in this work is to build bridges between the Muslim community and place-based philanthropy. 

Our desire is to help institutional philanthropy engage with Muslim American donors and Muslim-led nonprofit organizations. We believe that this requires a multi-prong approach that starts with amplifying stories of generosity and helping to redefine philanthropy through the IG showcase. In addition, we are inviting scholars into the conversation to learn with and from these stories by:

• Evaluating the impact and effectiveness of the storytelling platform and exhibit in fostering greater understanding, empathy, and community engagement.
• Identifying trends, themes, and insights emerging from the collected stories.
• Offering the comprehensive repository of stories and narratives to serve as a resource for future research, education, and advocacy efforts related to Muslim American generosity.