Poverty lines
One of the pioneers of the new approach to charity is the Imam Ali Popular Students Relief Society, which was recognised by the UN in 2010 and has built a network of 12,000 volunteers helping Iran’s poorest children.
A recent football tournament it organised for street kids was a reminder of Iran’s diversity, as Azeris, Baluchis, Kurds and many others were thrown together on the pitch in Tehran.
“The only choice for most of these kids in their neighbourhoods is violence, poverty and misery. We have tried to give them self-confidence through sports to improve their lives,” said Meysam Vahdei, head of sports for the foundation.
Ten year old Obeidollah had travelled since 3:00am from one of Iran’s poorest cities - Sarbaz in southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan province - and, inevitably, dreams of being the next Cristiano Ronaldo.
The foundation brought him to Tehran so he could participate in the tournament in a sport he loves.
“Some charity workers came to our city square. They saw me do a backflip and said ‘Wow! What a boy’, and now I’m here in Tehran playing football,” he said, excitedly.
Official data on poverty is hard to pin down in Iran.
The Labour Ministry said 800,000 households were eligible for government support because they earned below the poverty line of seven million rials (around US$160) a month, according to a report in January by the Financial Tribune.
Faced with mounting economic woes, President Hassan Rouhani has introduced welfare cuts and other austerity measures since coming to power in 2013.
The government was already struggling to support the poor before the recent return of US sanctions - after Washington withdrew from a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers - which has sent prices soaring and threatens to take a huge chunk out of the budget this year.
That has put more pressure on charities and private donors, and encouraged the more modern approach to charity work.
‘Breaking the poverty chain’
“We need to help these kids at an early stage of life to get them on the right path and help break the chain of poverty in their families,” said Reza Taghdir, a doctor with the high-end Nikan hospital group and a director for the ILIA Foundation.
It marks a change from the old ways of doing things, said one of ILIA’s promoters, who asked not to be named.
“In the past, some old guys would get near to death and start worrying about the afterlife, so they would hand out a load of money to build something in their name. It was really just about status and was not very organised,” he said.
“Now it’s much more professional, the donors are younger and much more concerned to find real solutions to problems in society.”