The Bahá'í Fund is supported exclusively by Bahá'ís. Contributions from non-Bahá'ís are declined and returned, including offers for humanitarian and educational projects the faith operates, and this applies at every level from a local Assembly to the international fund. Contributions are voluntary, confidential and unsolicited from named individuals; amounts are not disclosed, and Assemblies report totals without attribution. Institutions may remind the community of needs but may not approach individuals. There is no tithe, no pledge, no plate passed at meetings and no fundraising from the public. The rule strikes outsiders as self-defeating, and the reason given is independence: a community funded from outside would be answerable to its funders, and the faith's freedom to say what it holds depends on owing nothing to anyone who is not committed to it. Non-Bahá'ís may contribute to Bahá'í-inspired development organisations that are legally separate, which is how a good deal of the faith's social action work is in fact financed.