What motivates the American Jewish household of today to give?
This is arguably a more pertinent and compelling question than ever, as the ongoing war in Gaza continues to dominate the international headlines, and consequently, the American Jewish community also finds itself in the spotlight.
However, properly understanding the nature of Jewish philanthropy in the United States must be treated as a long-term endeavor, rather than a spur-of-the-moment reaction to charitable giving in the aftermath of the October 7 attacks. This is because American Jewry’s giving when Israel is at war largely represents emergency support, rather than a sustainable trend or an accurate portrait of the community’s usual giving patterns.
Precisely for this reason, the Ruderman Family Foundation had its finger on the pulse of American Jewish giving long before the current war presented variables that skew the statistical picture. Together with the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, we published “American Jewish Philanthropy 2022: Giving to Religious and Secular Causes in the U.S. and to Israel” — the most comprehensive report on Jewish giving trends in America in the past decade.
Released earlier this year, our study examines American Jewish giving and volunteering across demographics and Jewish denominations, including motivational factors affecting Jewish households and changes to their environments. The report explores giving to local and national causes, as well as to Israel-focused organizations, congregations, religiously identified organizations, and secular organizations.
Conducted in March 2023 and based on data that was collected for 2022 across 3,115 households — two-thirds Jewish, one-third non-Jewish — the survey’s breadth and depth reflects a Jewish giving landscape which is more diverse than the average American may realize. That diversity hearkens back to the initial question posed in this commentary: What does the American Jewish household of today look like, and what motivates the philanthropy of these households?
U.S. Jewry: A generous community with diverse philanthropic interests
To start, American Jewish households are generous. Three-quarters of American Jewish households donated an average of $10,588 in 2022 to religious and charitable purposes. Jewish and non-Jewish households give at similar rates: 74% of Jewish households and 72% of non-Jewish households reported participating in charitable giving. But Jewish households, on average, give higher amounts: The average gift size in Jewish households that give was more than $2,500 higher than among non-Jewish households. Regarding donations made to nonreligious organizations and causes, Jewish households (67% of those surveyed) were more likely to give than non-Jewish households (59%). These differences were not statistically significant when controlling for household demographics such as income and education.
Notably, American Jews’ generosity encompasses more than Jewish and religious causes. Two-thirds of these households give to nonreligiously affiliated organizations, less than half give to religiously affiliated organizations, and only two-fifths give to congregations.
At the same time, religious life cannot be ignored when it comes to assessing the factors that may motivate American Jewish households to give. Jews who attend religious services more frequently are more likely to give to any charitable organization, including 92% of those who attend synagogue services daily and 82% of those who attend weekly, but only 67% of those who hardly ever attend and 62% of those who never attend. Additionally, volunteering for any amount of time is positively and significantly correlated with giving; and the more a household gives, the more likely its members are to volunteer.
The impact of generational differences
Generational differences also shape giving patterns for American Jews. More than four-fifths of older-generation Jewish households (83% of people “older than Boomers” and 84% of Boomers) give to any charity, compared to about three-fourths (74%) of Gen-Xers and nearly two-thirds (64%) of millennials and members of younger generations. And yet, younger American Jews give more to Israel. Generation X and millennials had both the highest rates of giving to Israel-focused organizations and the highest mean amounts given to those organizations. The generation with the highest donation rate to Israel-focused organizations is Gen X (ages 43-58, at 27%), followed by millennials and younger generations (ages 18-42, at 25%).
Across the older and younger generations, American Jewish giving to Israel was on the rise as of 2022. One in four Jewish households reported giving to charitable organizations specifically related to Israel-focused causes. The average gift was $2,467 per household for those who gave to Israel-related causes and organizations. Jewish identity also plays a crucial role in giving to Israel: Fifty percent of those who view Jewish identity as “very important” reported making donations to Israel, compared to 19% who considered it “somewhat important” and 7% who described it as “not very important” or “not important at all.” Among the Jewish denominations, Orthodox households (58%) are the most likely to give to Israel-focused organizations.
Much like Israel, antisemitism is a timely motivational factor behind giving — especially for people who have experienced antisemitism personally. American Jews who have experienced antisemitism give an average of almost 10 times more to charity than those who have not had those experiences. Respondents who personally experienced antisemitism or have someone in their household who experienced it gave more to all causes.
Concern about antisemitism also tracked with more giving: those who reported being very concerned about antisemitism gave at higher rates (80%, versus 53% among those who said they were not at all concerned), and gave over five times more than the average of those who said they are unconcerned about antisemitism. To put this into perspective, antisemitic incidents in the U.S. increased as much as 361% in the three months following the October 7 Hamas terror attack in Israel and ensuing war.
Philanthropic trends inform current, future strategic practices
The United States has a vibrant Jewish community with strong involvement in a wide range of philanthropic activities. It is important to understand what those activities look like and how this philanthropy is changing over time. By broadening the understanding of Jewish giving, the report presents key insights that can inform the Jewish community’s activities in both the short- and long-term future, particularly when it comes to the initiatives that Jewish organizations choose to prioritize.
Beyond the Jewish community, deeper and more nuanced understanding of Jewish giving can shape the landscape of philanthropic engagement. Knowing that there are many causes to which Jewish households give, all organizations (Jewish and non-Jewish) must exercise care and thoughtful planning when engaging this deeply committed group.
Finally, American Jewish households themselves can look to this report as a key model for the practice of strategic philanthropy — an affirmation that their giving is a multifaceted and comprehensive reflection of their identity, practices, values, the world they aspire to see and the impact they seek to make.
That model will serve as a crucial resource in the coming months, as American Jewry could be poised to increase their giving as a means of supporting their community during a time of crisis, with a war ongoing in Israel and with antisemitism rising in the U.S. Now more than ever, is the time for a deeper strategic process which caters to the long-term needs of the Jewish community.
Jay Ruderman is President of the Ruderman Family Foundation and Host of the “All About Change” podcast.
Hanna Shaul Bar Nissim, PhD, is Deputy Director U.S. at the Ruderman Family Foundation and co-author of the study, “American Jewish Philanthropy 2022: Giving to Religious and Secular Causes in the U.S. and to Israel.”
