People of faith are generally more likely to be generous than people who are not religious, but there are many factors that can influence generosity, and not all religious people are generous, nor are all non-religious people ungenerous. However, looking at adults in the UK, data from YouGov Profiles reveals that people who practise a faith with any amount of regularity show a higher tendency to be charitable than compared to others who have no faith. Religious people indicated a likelihood to do so, demonstrating a significantly higher propensity than the 56% of those who have no faith. Asked about their likelihood to donate to a charity in the next three months, three in four (76%) of religious people indicated a likelihood to do so, demonstrating a significantly higher propensity than others with no faith (56%).
In the UK Muslims give more to charity than any other religious group. British Muslims give four times more to charity than the average UK donor. One of the five pillars of Islam is ‘Zakat’ i.e. giving 10% of their money to charity.
Many Jews are also very generous in their philanthropy. Sir Loyd Dorfman, a Jewish philanthropist revealed that of the 30 major donors to the Diamond Jubilee Galleries project at Westminster Abbey, six were Jewish families. Down through the centuries Jews who regularly attend a synagogue give 10% of their wealth to charity, for the Talmud, stipulated that Jews were required to give 10% of their money to charity. Indeed, only 7% of British Jews do not give to charity, and the strictly Orthodox Jews are the most charitable of all. Sir Moses Montefiore, one of the most distinguished Jewish personalities of Victorian Britain, once remarked: “Our true worth is measured by how much we are willing to share with others”.
Christians too are committed to giving generously to charity. One of the greatest American philanthropists, Andrew Carnegie, who belonged to the Presbyterian Church, once wrote, “I should consider it a disgrace to die a rich man”. Another of the greatest American philanthropists, John Rockefeller, who was influenced by his mother’s Baptist faith, on one occasion said, “I never would have been able to tithe the first million dollars I ever made, if I had not tithed my first salary, which was $1.50 per week”. In the UK Evangelical Christians tend to be the most generous Christian group in their giving to charity. On average British Evangelical Christians donate 11.5% of their income to churches and charities.
One of the most generous Evangelical Christians in the UK today is Peter Vardy, a Scottish entrepreneur and car dealer. After becoming a Christian in the 1990s, Vardy sold his business for millions and gave away his substantial fortune to fund education, evangelism, and mission projects. Another generous Evangelical Christian is Sir Brian Souter, the founder of Stagecoach. He and his sister generated or donated more than £20 million for medical, social, and Christian causes.
When I was the minister of Altrincham Baptist Church and Chelmsford Central Baptist Church, the church members donated well in excess of £750,000 to Christian charities. This was in addition to the money they gave for the running of the church. The most spectacular miracle I have ever seen was when Chelmsford Baptist Church had only 200 members, they committed themselves to raising £2 million to turn an uninviting church building into a most attractive centre for mission. At that time we had no wealthy ministers. Nonetheless, the members committed themselves to double-tithing – 10% went to the normal church expenses which involved supporting the ministers and all the other things which any church needs; and 10% went to pay for the new centre for mission. Within three years we were debt free. In my book, that was a miracle of giving! Needless to say, nobody was compelled to give. However, most if not all of us found inspiration from the words of the Apostle Paul, who in challenging the church at Corinth wrote: “Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 8.9 NRSV), or as Eugene Peterson paraphrased it in The Message:
I want each of you to take plenty o time to think it oger5 and make up your own mind what you will give. That will protect you against sob stories and arm twisting. God loves it when the giver delights in the giving.
Finally, people from faith communities not only give money, instead they have as higher incidence of charity work and volunteering than the general population. Charity acts are carried out every day across the UK without fuss or fanfare and much of this is motivated by their faith. Yes, people of faith are generally likely to be generous – both in their giving and in their time – than people who are not religious.
A good article! I think though that Zakat is a fair bit different to 10% of income from what I can gather (2.5% of non essential assets, but interpretations vary). I say this partly because it surprised me that Muslims would be more generous as a group on a 2.5% assets baseline than Christians and Jews who usually quote 10% of income (even when I’m quite aware of the difference between a nominal and practicing Christian!). Of course, John the Baptist gave a 50% example, and Christ realistically expects 100% of our life to be available as a living sacrifice, whatever that looks like on our personal finances. Good on Chelmsford for a generous interpretation!