# Percentage of British Muslims expecting to give more next year rises despite financial concerns

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2023/12/13/percentage-of-british-muslims-expecting-to-give-more-next-year-rises-despite-financial-concerns/
- Published: 2023-12-13T11:10:00+00:00
- Author: Melanie May

**Only 7% of British Muslims surveyed for a new report say they have no financial
concerns but at the same time there is an increase in the percentage who expect 
to give more next year.**

_[British Muslim Charitable Giving II: The Impact of the Cost-of-Living Crisis](https://www.muslimcharitiesforum.org.uk/resources/british-muslim-charitable-giving-report-ii-the-impact-of-the-cost-of-living-crisis/)_
from Muslim Charities Forum (MCF) and produced in conjunction with NfPResearch follows
the _British Muslim Charitable Giving Report 2021-2022_. It examines the impact 
of rising living costs through 2023 due to the cost-of-living crisis and how this
has impacted donor’s attitudes and habits towards social action causes.

The research saw 1,092 British Muslims respondents aged 16+ surveyed and compares
the responses against those of the wider British public. Only 7% of the sample say
they do not have any financial concerns, while two thirds are worse-off than they
were six months ago. Almost three quarters of the sample had relied on borrowing
money to pay their bills during this period.

## Advertisement

 [⌊Posthub advert. You create the campaign. We'll handle the postal journey. Get started at post-hub.co.uk.⌉](https://fundraising.co.uk/ads/posthub-20261007-300x250/)

However, respondents’ expectations for charitable giving next year is a net 8% higher
than for the current year at 27%, whilst among the general public the expectation
for next year drops by 12%. Just under a fifth of the Muslim sample expect to cut
back their charitable giving.

Looking at donation motivators and methods, the research found a preference for 
donations to charities with a connection to Islam and/or Muslims. Other drivers 
to donate were personal connections (for example to a country overseas) and direct
payments to those in need. Giving via collections and offerings at a mosque was 
the most popular method, with 60% of British Muslims having given this way in the
past three months.

Donations were also not restricted to Ramadan. For the majority of the sample, less
than 40% of their donations were given during the holy month and giving was not 
only defined by what was required by Zakat, with many giving above this.

#### Key findings on charitable giving

 * Three-in-five of the British Muslims asked had donated via collection or offering
   at a mosque in the past three months.
 * Popular methods for donation include payments made via debit cards or credit 
   cards (54%) and via charity websites (53%).
 * 52% of the sample also donated to charity shops, and 50% by buying consumer products
   that include a charitable donation.
 * 4 in 10 have given to a religious charity in the past year. Other favoured causes
   are children and young people (33%) and cancer (25%).
 * 44% of respondents would rather support a Muslim-led charity than one without
   ties to their faith.
 * Given the choice, 34% of respondents prefer to give to UK-based charities working
   in a country they have a personal connection to, 32% to UK-based charities working
   in the UK and 24% to send money home to people they know directly.
 * The sample gave an average of £143 over the past three months.
 * Only 6% said that they have not donated to any charity in the last three months.

The Muslim-led charity sector comprises over 450 organisations across the UK working
for social good both domestically and internationally, comprising over £700 million
in annual fundraising income. Much of this income comes from the generosity of the
Muslim community who are known to donate over £1billion to international and domestic
causes each year, despite comprising a small percentage of the UK population.

The report also found that volunteering is widespread with 43% of its British Muslim
sample having done so in the past year. Despite this, the cost-of-living crisis 
is having an overall net negative impact on the ability to volunteer, with a third
of respondents saying that it has decreased how often they can make time to get 
involved.

Fadi Itani OBE, CEO of MCF commented:

> “We are delighted to release our latest report, kindly supported by NfP Research.
> This report shows that although British Muslims and other minority groups remain
> one of the hardest-hit by rising living costs, their dedication to charitable 
> causes remains firm. The insight from this report casts a spotlight on UK Muslims
> and how their giving has been impacted and will make useful reading to all those
> with an interest in the sector.”

The report says:

_“The benefit of comparing the behaviours and preferences of a British Muslim sample
against the wider public is that it allows us to benchmark this community within
the wider context of the UK as a whole: this gives us valuable insights into how
social challenges have been affecting the Muslim population specifically._