Brief and Findings from Global Giving Survey -Jordan , Samir Abu Rumman

Insights on Charitable Giving, Zakat, and Volunteering in Jordan: Findings from Global Giving Survey – MPI at Indiana University , Samir Abu Rumman
Here is brief and some findings by Dr.Samir Abu Rumman, a visiting research Professor at Princeton University and UMR Institute Consultant , a survey on giving, charities, and zakat (Islamic charitable giving) in Jordan which was also presented as ARNOVA Asia conference in South Korea which was supervised by Samir Abu Rumman and Dr. Abed Ayoub and presented by Dr. Shariq Siddiqi from IU . The survey is one of Muslim philanthropy Initiative at Indiana University and was conducted in coordination with the UMR Institute based in Washington D.C.
The survey had a sample size of 1,200 adults aged 18+ across 12 governorates in Jordan. Samir explained that the sample was designed to be representative of Jordan's demographics, with a balanced gender split (52% male, 47% female) and diverse age, income, education, and employment backgrounds.
Key findings from the survey:
Donations:
- 84% of respondents reported not donating any money to charitable causes in the past year, indicating relatively low donation rates in Jordan.
- Among the 16% who did donate, the majority (94%) gave to charitable organizations rather than directly to individuals.
- Samir noted that these findings on low donation rates are consistent with previous surveys conducted in Jordan and Kuwait.
Zakat:
- Many respondents either did not pay zakat (obligatory Islamic charity) or did not know about it, suggesting a lack of awareness or practice around this form of giving.
Volunteering:
- 85% of respondents said they did not volunteer for any causes in the past year, pointing to low rates of formal volunteering in Jordan.
- Samir mentioned that there may be more informal volunteering practices not captured by the survey.
Samir emphasized the importance of understanding these findings and using them to inform the work of various organizations dealing with economic, charitable, and philanthropic issues in Jordan. He noted that the full dataset from the survey is expected to be released soon through MPI at Indiana University.