RELIGIOUS DONORS GIVE MORE THAN DOUBLE THOSE OF NO FAITH
21 February 2012
People who are religious donate over twice as much money to
charity as those without a faith, according to figures from the
Charities Aid Foundation (CAF).
The average amount given to charity by those who are religious
was £576 over the previous twelve months, compared to the £235
contributed by those of no faith.
However, only 31% of religious donors had given money to a
religious activity.
The split across the other causes tended to be more in line with
the rest of the population, 68% donating to medical charities and
48% to overseas aid, which were also the two most popular choices
for those of no faith.
The figures come from CAF's 2011 Market Tracker Report, which
asked 507 donors giving at least £50 to charity a year a variety of
questions about their charitable habits.
CAF Director of Research Richard Harrison commented: "These
results not only show that those of faith are more generous to
charity in general, but that their giving is not uniquely focused
on their own religious activities.
"If anything, people of faith broadly give in line with the rest
of the general public - to a variety of different appeals.
‘The culture of giving within religious circles that is
demonstrated by our survey is an admirable one, and a phenomenon
that clearly enriches our society."
The results of the CAF study are published just days after the
Richard Dawkins Foundation (RDF)’s report, which shows those who
claim to be Christian do not necessarily follow the faith.
Even within the research from CAF, only 51% of those claiming to
be a certain faith agreed that they ‘had strong religious
beliefs’.
The remaining participants either disagreed (6%) or didn’t
specify, supporting the RDF’s findings that there is a certain
disparity between identifying yourself as a part of a faith and
having strong beliefs.
However, although Richard Dawkins took this news as proof of
Christianity being redundant in Britain today, the CAF data could
be seen to tell a different story.
‘The survey shows that there is a link between associating with
a religion and charitable behaviour, even when people aren’t
actively practising their faith,’ Richard Harrison added.
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