American Jews who feel they have experienced antisemitism give an average of almost 10 times more to charity than those who have not had those experiences. One in four Jewish households in the United States report giving to charitable organizations specifically related to Israel-focused causes.
Among those who gave to Israel-related causes and organizations, the average gift was $2,467 per donor household with a median gift of $400.
The data is included in a new study American Jewish Philanthropy 2022: Giving to Religious and Secular Causes in the U.S. and to Israel study, from the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy in Indianapolis and funded by the Ruderman Family Foundation in Newton, Massachusetts.
The research was completed prior to the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led terror attack that killed approximately 1,200 Israelis including at least 31 American citizens. Data collection was conducted through a web-based survey between March 8 and March 29, 2023.
Antisemitism is not specifically defined in the report. Respondents were asked if they experienced antisemitism, were concerned about it, or not concerned at all.
“Given how the rising threat posed by antisemitism has been a prominent concern for the American Jewish community not only during the current war in Israel but in the years immediately preceding it, we believe that our study’s findings present key insights that can inform the organized Jewish community’s activities in both the short- and long-term future,” said Jay Ruderman, president of the Ruderman Family Foundation said via a statement.
Experiences with, and concerns about, antisemitism in the United States were linked to significantly greater levels of giving during 2022. Respondents who personally experienced antisemitism or had someone in their household who experienced it gave more to all causes. Higher charitable giving by donors who had experienced with antisemitism was not limited to supporting religious organizations. American Jewish donors who had experienced antisemitism gave over six times as much to non-religious institutions and organizations than donors who had not, according to the data in the 54-page report.
Orthodox Jews indicated they have experienced antisemitism at significantly higher levels than other Jewish respondents. Some 30% of respondents with children younger than 18 and at home experienced antisemitism, compared with 17% of those with no children younger than 18 at home. Those located in the Western U.S. experienced more antisemitism, at 28%, compared with 20% in the Midwest, 20% in the South and 15% in the Northeast.
The report’s authors at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University, Patrick M. Rooney, Ph.D., professor emeritus of economics and philanthropic studies, and emeritus associate executive dean of academic affairs, Jon Bergdoll, applied statistician, associate director of data partnerships, and visiting scholar Hanna Shaul Bar Nissim, Ph.D., spoke with The NonProfit Times regarding the data. Shaul Bar Nissim is also deputy director U.S. at the Ruderman Family Foundation.
“What popped off the page,” according to Rooney, is when “giving patterns are compared across generational cohorts.” There are meaningful but “complex generational differences in both the likelihood of being a donor at all and the amounts donated,” according to the report’s authors. “More than four-fifths of older generations (83% of people older than Boomer and 84% of Boomer) are donors to any charity, compared to just less than three-fourths (74%) of Gen Xers and almost two-thirds (64%) of Millennial and younger,” the authors wrote.
The patterns are more complex when examining giving to congregations and religiously identified organizations (RIOs). In both cases, Gen X respondents report the highest incidence rates (47% and 52%, respectively), yet have the second-lowest median donation amounts of any of the four generations, the data shows. When controlling for generation instead of age as a continuous variable, both Gen X and Millennial and younger are significantly less likely to give and give less overall and for non-religiously identified organizations (NRIOs) when compared to older than Boomer respondents. Only the “Millennial and younger” generation was significantly less likely to give overall and give less for religious giving.
Any random sample of households will contain some high-income and high-net-worth households, but philanthropic giving is biased in the sense that those with higher incomes and higher wealth holdings tend to donate a disproportionately higher share of total giving, according to previous research by Rooney. This sample is random with some higher income and high-net-worth households, but it is not a sample targeted at high income or high net worth households. As a result, the respondents are more representative of American households, according to Rooney and Bergdoll.
The survey and market research firm SSRS was hired to implement the survey. Used were a combination of its probability panel and nonprobability panel partners. In addition to the Jewish sample surveyed, a supplement of non-Jewish adults aged 18 and older was added, allowing a comparison between Jewish and non-Jewish giving.
A total of 3,115 surveys were completed, and the survey response rate was 40%. Approximately two-thirds of the responses were from Jewish households and one-third were from non-Jewish households.
“Given our foundation’s core mission to expand and share knowledge through the publication of comprehensive research as well as to model the practice of strategic philanthropy, we are proud to partner with the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy on a report that promises to broaden the general public’s understanding of Jewish giving in America,” Jay Ruderman, president of the Ruderman Family Foundation, said via a statement.
To see the complete report, go to https://philanthropy.iupui.edu/research/latest/index.html
