There are more than 50,000 faith-based charities in England and Wales, with a combined income of
more than £16 billion. That’s nearly a quarter of the income of all charities in the country. These are the
findings of a recent study into the sector. But such studies often focus on Christian, Jewish and Muslim
charities, and tend to underrepresent Hindu, Sikh, Jain and related charities. This article will help you
understand how Hindu charities compare to other faith-based charities in the UK and how the
operations of such charitable organizations determine what they achieve.
The majority of the faith-based charities are Christian, but the data points to some interesting trends.
According to the 2011 Census, 4.8% of the country is Muslim, yet 23.2% of faith-based charities are
Muslim. Only 0.8% of the population is Jewish, but 4.6% of faith-based charities are Jewish.
Hindus and Sikhs make up 1% and 0.7% of the population, respectively, and had 1.5% and 0.8% of all
faith-based charities, but with only 0.5% and 0.4% of charitable income. Christian charities are the
richest by far, with Jewish charities having 6.2% of the income and Muslim charities with 3.3%.
The report, by leading charity consultancy NPC, is likely to underestimate the number of Hindu and Sikh
charities, but there are still some clear conclusions.
First, there are a small number of very wealthy Jewish charities, and Jews have the most impressive
charitable giving in the country. There are a lot of Muslim charities, but most are small. According to the
Office of National Statistics, Christians and Muslims have the lowest economic activity in the country,
whereas Hindus have the highest. Considering this alongside the research, it shows that Hindus are
richer than others but are significantly less generous than other communities.
This may appear counterintuitive given Hinduism has a proud tradition of sewa. But because other faiths
specifically encourage charitable giving as a defined proportion of their income, they are more likely to
give money.
Research that I had led a few years ago found that (after taking out young people under 20 years of age)
Jewish people donated ten times more to Jewish causes than Hindu people donated to Hindu causes.
Muslims donated twice as much as Hindus.
This trend is quite evident when comparing the umbrella bodies for each religion in the country. For the
latest available year, the Board of Deputies for British Jews had an income of £1.2m and reserves of
more than three years of income. The Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe had income of £489,000 and
reserves of over a year’s income, the Muslim Council of Britain (which has shrunk in recent years) had
income of £58,000 and reserves for nearly three years, and the British Sikh Council had income of
£169,000 with reserves of around six months. But the Hindu Forum of Britain has an income of just over
£10,000, and equally low reserves.
Umbrella or secular organisations in the Hindu community struggle for recognition. In the academic
sector for example, Oxford has three faith-based research centres, for Hindu Studies, Hebrew and
Jewish Studies, and Islamic Studies. Respectively, their annual income is £278,000, £1.4m and £5.4m.
The sampradaya, guruparampara or related Hindu charities find it easier to build revenue. The BAPS
Sanstha has an annual income of over £10m, ISKCON has around £9.5m, the Brahma Kumaris around
£2m.
A report by the think tank the Henry Jackson Society assessed the impact of faith communities on public
life by analysing all articles in three major newspapers from across the political spectrum. It identified
3,945 articles in the period 2000-2010 where faith communities were quoted. Hindus were the least
represented, and Jews the best. One of the major findings was that Hindu claims were often much more
specific to an issue (the death of Shambo the cow and removing Hindu deities from Royal Mail Christmas
stamps), not about wider society.
Contribution to public life from Hindu faith-based organisations has undoubtedly increased since then
(such as the uproar about the use of animal-based tallow in new £5 notes). But broadly speaking,
organisations such as the Bhumi Project, which have an important intellectual voice in global
conversations around sustainability, are in a minority in the British Hindu community.
Does this matter? Perhaps not – Hindus in Britain are an affluent community with increasing political,
media and civic representation. But it does put the sewa that the community does do into context –
other large faith communities do it better. And for issues of national and international importance, it is
important to have an intellectual, policy voice that can reach across the religious spectrum.
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