U.S. Muslims were more likely to perceive themselves to be tolerant and inclusive than non-Muslims when it comes to philanthropy, according to a report published in early September by the Muslim Philanthropy Initiative at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at IUPUI.
The survey asked nearly 2,000 participants to answer questions focused on the way they perceive themselves and their faith tradition regarding matters of tolerance, diversity, inclusivity and pluralism in their charitable giving.
Questions included:
- Would you donate to an organization that is led by someone of a different ethnicity from your own?
- Would you donate to an organization that works primarily with individuals belonging to a different sect of your own faith?
- How important are each of the following in your decision to give to an organization? Commitment to racial diversity, religious inclusivity, gender inclusivity.
Muslims were much more likely than Christians and “nones” to express tolerance and inclusivity in their responses, the report found, and Muslims were more likely than non-Muslims to affirm support for organizations that are inclusive, diverse and tolerant.
“On average, Muslims perceived themselves to have higher levels of tolerance, donation motivation, diversity perception, inclusivity and religiosity than their non- Muslim counterparts,” the report said. “The only exception was tolerance, for which adherents of the Jewish faith had a slightly higher … mean than Muslims.”
Of the total respondents, 52% were Muslim, 31% Christian, 12% religiously unaffiliated, 2% Jewish and 3% other faith traditions. Muslim respondents were younger (65.1% under age 40) than non-Muslim respondents (38.7% under age 40).
While tolerance increased with political liberalism among the non-Muslim respondents, Muslim respondents on both ends of the political spectrum (most and least conservative) expressed the most tolerance.
The Lilly School of Philanthropy published a report in April revealing that philanthropic giving among U.S. Muslims was $1.8 billion in 2021, while a Better Business Bureau report published in July on perceived lack of diversity within houses of faith, charities, businesses and government found that Muslim respondents were most likely to say diversity, equity and inclusion on a board of directors has a positive impact on the organization.
“This research provides significant insights into how tolerance and diversity are reflected in U.S. Muslims’ philanthropic behaviors and decisions,” Shariq Siddiqui, director of MPI and assistant professor of philanthropic studies at the school, said in a press release announcing the release of the September report. “Our findings suggest that nonprofit organizations that demonstrate greater diversity, tolerance and pluralism are more likely to gain the support of U.S. Muslims.”
The full report is available here.