Germans with a religious faith more likely to donate, says study

German adults with a religious faith are more likely to give money to charity and volunteer than those with no faith, according to new findings from Deutscher Fundraising Verband (DFRV).

These findings come from DFRV’s latest Deutscher Spendenmonitor (Germany Donation Monitor), which is based on a 5,000-person survey.

The data show that 56% of Christians and 55% of Muslims in the country give to charity, compared to 46% of those with no religion. It also shows that 69% of Christians with assets in excess of €100,000 are donors, compared to 54% of those with no religion in the same financial position.

There is also a much higher rate of volunteering among Christians (45%) and Muslims (52%) than among non-believers (32%).

Overall, 40% of the population volunteers, the Spendenmonitor finds, and the rate is higher (50%) among those who are donors.

Most generations had more donors than volunteers, the study says, with the exception of Generation Z (the youngest group in the survey), of whom 30% volunteer and 19% donate.

DFRV advisory board member Professor Tom Neukirchen said that the shrinking number of churchgoers and long-term decline in baptism created a headache for the country’s various Christian aid organisations, who would now be increasingly competing for resources. He suggests that these charities need to “find the right fundraising approach for non-religious people around the age of 40”.

Neukirchen also suggested that charities should not be afraid of asking volunteers to donate money in addition to their time.

A UK survey earlier this year found that British Muslims gave more than four times as much money to charity each year than the rest of the country, according to Civil Society.

Picture by Julia M Cameron on Pixabay