Muslim Philanthropy Initiative

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https://hdl.handle.net/1805/29948

The Muslim Philanthropy Initiative (MPI) organizes symposiums and seminars; convenes philanthropic leaders; holds training programs; conducts research; and recruit Muslims in the field to train and empower a new generation of philanthropic and nonprofit leaders.

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Ramadan, U.S. Muslims, and Zakat: Insights from a National Survey
(Muslim Philanthropy Initiative at Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, 2024-03-28) Siddiqui, Shariq; Thapa, Sitashma; Cheema, Jehanzeb; Ahmed, Tulip
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, observed by Muslims through fasting from dawn to dusk. In 2024, it began in early March and ends in early April. This report explores the link between Ramadan and zakat, a mandatory form of almsgiving and one of Islam's five pillars. A survey of 1,136 U.S.-based Muslim adults revealed that the majority prefer giving zakat during Ramadan, often through fundraising iftars or community prayers. Demographic trends show that Muslim women, married individuals, those in the $50,000-$75,000 income bracket, and the 30–39 age group, particularly registered voters, have a higher propensity to give zakat during this period. Additionally, higher religiosity levels correlate with increased zakat giving during Ramadan, offering insights for nonprofit and Muslim faith-based institutions.
U.S. Muslim Women’s Philanthropy Report 2023
(Muslim Philanthropy Initiative, Lilly Family School of Philanathropy, 2023-12-27) Hussain, Nausheena; Cheema, Jehanzeb; Thapa, Sitashma; Toosi, Massumeh H.; Hughes, Micah; Siddiqui, Shariq
Philanthropy plays an important role in the daily life of U.S. Muslims. The Muslim American Zakat Report 2022 found that Muslims gave an estimated 4.3 billion dollars in zakat. Despite these impressive numbers, a large gap in understanding U.S. Muslim demographics and dynamics exists. U.S. Muslims, especially Muslim women, are not adequately researched nor their giving patterns understood. This report departs from existing literature on U.S. Muslim women that centers topics such as stigma, negative stereotypes, and discrimination, and, instead, sheds light on Muslim women’s philanthropic behaviors and generosity by analyzing survey data on demographic characteristics, religious beliefs and practices, donation and zakat giving, and volunteerism
Collaboration in the U.S. Muslim Nonprofit Sector: Lessons From the Community Collaboration Initiative
(Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy Muslim Philanthropy Initiative, 2023-10-17) Siddiqui, Shariq; Samad, Abdul; Wasif, Rafeel
The Community Collaboration Initiative (CCI) was a three-year collaboration of nonprofit leaders, donors, practitioners, academics, and researchers designed to build sustainable collaborations in the Muslim-American nonprofit sector. CCI envisioned a sector where all participants would have a voice in moving these organizations from working in silos to working in partnerships in order to tackle their many challenges. This white paper summarizes the opportunities and recommendations that emerged from CCI. It is a guide for communities, practitioners, and researchers interested in engaging in these collaborations, as well as universities and funders that endeavor to nurture them. These findings hold significant relevance for the nonprofit sector as a whole, but particularly for leaders aiming to enhance their understanding of cross-organization collaborations. It draws on the experiences of the organizational participants and the CCI leadership to reveal best practices for future collaborations. This white paper highlights the factors critical to fostering trust, building programs, and ultimately building integrated groups to contribute to more vibrant, sustainable, and equitable communities. It is essential to recognize that collaboration is fundamentally challenging, and collaboration among experts from different communities and institutions is no exception. These partnerships require that individuals with different resources, cultures, incentive structures, schedules, and skillsets find each other, identify a shared challenge, agree on roles, secure funding, and move through inevitable barriers. When these collaborations succeed, they can have a tremendous effect on the overall well-being of society.
Muslim American Zakat Report 2023
(Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy Muslim Philanthropy Initiative, 2023-08-29) Hughes, Micah; Thapa, Sitashma; Cheema, Jehanzeb; Ajmal, Mariam; Wasif, Rafeel; Siddiqui, Shariq; Paarlberg, Afshan; Noor, Zeeshan; Mofawaz, Mohannad
Zakat, the third of the five pillars of Islam, refers to obligatory alms for all eligible Muslims and is required by God. Often described as an alms tax and a form of “financial worship,” an individual’s intentions determine whether a zakat act is charitable. The 2023 Zakat Report expands knowledge about everyday zakat practices among U.S. Muslims. This report branches out from existing zakat research as it aims to understand lived perspectives and contemporary techniques. Using an SSRS cross-sectional survey, we research U.S. Muslim nonprofit organizations offering tools (i.e., zakat calculators, social media, etc.) and opinions regarding how to perform charitable acts. This report also researches the link between socio-economic demographics and zakat giving. Our findings emphasize the importance of thinking beyond numbers when considering Muslim philanthropy and understanding practices beyond Western-centric definitions.
Muslim American Giving Report: Motivations of Giving
(Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, 2023-05-29) Siddiqui, Shariq; Cheema, Jehanzeb; Noor, Zeeshan; Hughes, Micah; Wasif, Rafeel; Samad, Abdul; Mofawaz, Mohannad
This report evaluates an adaptive self-report scale regarding what motivates people in the United States to give to charitable causes or organizations by using a theoretical framework of perceived benefits. An exploratory factor analysis on charity motivation scales revealed that religion, in addition to basic socioeconomic demographics such as gender, age, education, race, income, marital status, and geographic location, significantly influence Americans’ motivation to give. The other notable factors were found to be political leaning, civic participation, political conservatism, and involvement in nonprofit service, as they all have an important effect on giving motivation. For this purpose, a representative sample of 1,733 U.S. adults (866 Muslims and 867 non-Muslims) from various ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic backgrounds were polled to discover more about their giving patterns and what motivates them to contribute. The findings, which mostly aligned with the Muslim American Giving Report 2021 (Siddiqui & Wasif, 2021), indicated Muslims and non-Muslims evidently have different motivations for contributing.
Understanding Nonprofit Governance and DEI Practices Among Marginalized Communities for a More Just & Inclusive Society
(Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, 2023-03-20) Noor, Zeeshan; Siddiqui, Shariq; Paarlberg, Afshan; Saleem, Sana; Cheema, Jehanzeb
Community-engaged practice and participatory research provide important feedback loops. In this project, the legal clinic relies on partnerships to build trust across communities. For example, legal colleagues, nonprofit colleagues, and former clients - who understand the benefits of legal screenings - are critical to relationship building. Ongoing, deep community engagement offers faculty ample opportunities to observe and learn firsthand about issues that are important to community members and helps guide the research. Ultimately, community perspectives and interests that translate into research findings offer opportunities for community reflection, action, and improvement. Empirical assessments of an organization’s financial policies, audits, and procedures are crucial to its success and efficient service delivery. It not only helps ensure that the organization’s financial activities are transparent and accountable but also helps build trust with internal and external stakeholders. Strong governance, the role of the board, and smooth relationships between the nonprofit’s management and its board members are equally important for an effective decision-making process. This coalition leads to strong fiscal policy implementation and measurement of its outcome. Many dilemmas are associated with Muslim organizations. One is the lack of equity and inclusion at different levels. Incorporating strong diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies and practices helps ensure that Muslim nonprofits are aligned with their goals and values. A diverse and inclusive workplace can lead to better decision-making and outcomes while attracting and retaining a diverse and talented workforce. It is equally necessary to involve everyone in developing and implementing DEI policies.
Pluralism in Muslim American Philanthropy Report 2022
(Muslim Philanthropy Initiative, Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, 2022-09-08) Siddiqui, Shariq; Hughes, Micah; Wasif, Rafeel; Paarlberg, Afshan; Cheema, Jehanzeb; Samad, Abdul; Noor, Zeeshan
The Pluralism in Muslim American Philanthropy 2022 Report shows that, on average, U.S. Muslims surveyed perceived themselves to have higher levels of characteristics such as tolerance, valuing diversity and racial inclusivity, religiosity, and motivation to donate to causes benefitting people with marginalized identities (described in the study as “donation motivation”) than U.S. non-Muslims perceived themselves to have. This report details the findings on pluralism and tolerance perception from a self-administered web survey conducted by SSRS for the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. The larger study, of which these findings are a part, surveys the opinions of Muslims and the general population regarding faith customs, donation practices and attitudes, volunteer work, remittances, and zakat. SSRS conducted its survey from January 25 through February 15, 2022 with 2,010 adult respondents (age 18 and over), including 1,024 Muslim and 960 general population respondents. SSRS reached eligible respondents via a nonprobability web panel sample.
A Year of Learning: Educating the Philanthropic Community About Racialized and Stigmatized Nonprofits
(Muslim Philanthropy Initiative, Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, 2022-10-01) Siddiqui, Shariq; Samad, Abdul; Wasif, Rafeel
The Muslim nonprofit sector is diverse and young, with many organizations established in the post-9/11 era. The Muslim nonprofit sector has been under scrutiny and faces discrimination in the form of Islamophobia. The racialized and stigmatized identity of Muslims has further increased the disconnect between the Muslim nonprofit sector and the philanthropic community. This report paper examines the work of the Year of Learning and its attempts to educate philanthropic leaders about the importance of engaging with racialized minorities including US Muslims. It raised the following questions: Why is there a lack of interaction between the racialized nonprofit sector and the foundation world? What are the challenges? This research suggests that the most powerful way to overcome these challenges is by engaging and educating both sides.
Muslim American Zakat Report 2022
(Muslim Philanthropy Initiative, Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, 2022-04-14) Siddiqui, Shariq; Wasif, Rafeel; Hughes, Micah; Parlberg, Afshan; Noor, Zeeshan
Zakat and sadaqa are key Islamic philanthropic traditions. Zakat, the third of five pillars of Islam, is an obligatory act of giving. Sadaqa is voluntary giving beyond the minimum threshold of zakat. Sadaqa can take the form of money, action or abstention; the intention is what defines the act as charitable. This report details the findings on zakat from a self-administered web survey conducted by SSRS for the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. The larger study, of which these findings are a part, surveys the opinions of Muslims and the general population regarding faith customs, donation practices and attitudes, volunteer work, remittances, tolerance, and diversity. SSRS conducted its survey from January 25 through February 15, 2022 with 2,010 adult respondents (age 18 and over), including 1,006 Muslim and 1,004 general population respondents. SSRS reached eligible respondents via a nonprobability web panel sample. We restricted questions about zakat to the Muslim sample.
Muslim American Giving 2021
(2021-10-06) Siddiqui, Shariq; Wasif, Rafeel
Muslim-Americans have been at the center stage of U.S. political and socioeconomic debates in recent years. Probably the reason being the fastest-growing demographics in the US, with around 1.1% of the U.S. population belongs to the Muslim faith as suggested by a 2018 Pew survey. Muslim-Americans are also one of the most racially diverse groups in the U.S., comprising African-Americans, Asians, Arabs, and Caucasians. Nevertheless, there is a lack of data-driven research about Muslim giving despite their standing. The data and findings from the Muslim American Giving 2021 Study are presented in this study. Muslim Philanthropy Initiative (MPI) at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, IUPUI, in collaboration with the Islamic Relief USA administered this through SSRS. The study surveyed the sentiments of 2005 participants regarding donor behavior, volunteer work, faith customs, attitudes and practices on donation, uncertainty intolerance amidst COVID-19, financial welfare, and sensitivities involved in the donor’s decision-making process. SSRS surveyed from March 17 through April 7, 2021.

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