The charity sector could do more to recognise the role of faith in philanthropy, according to a new report.
The British Muslim Civil Society report, released yesterday by Mercy Mission UK, said the sector would benefit from the greater inclusion of faith and minority groups in conversations about philanthropy and government partnerships.
The report said the government’s Faith New Deal Fund was “a step in the right direction”.
But the study noted that there were no Muslim charities among the 16 organisations which were allocated a share of the £1.3m fund, despite recent census data showing that Muslims represented 6.5 per cent of the population in England and Wales.
The report suggested that policymakers may not be aware of faith-based charities’ contribution to civil society and called for the NCVO to begin documenting a religious breakdown of voluntary organisations to mitigate this.
It called for New Philanthropy Capital to consider regularly publishing summary reports on faith-based charitable work “so that the sector and Muslim charities can better understand how they fit into the wider charity sector”.
The report also called for greater collaboration between civil society groups of all faiths.
Dan Corry, chief executive of NPC, said: “It’s good to see our work being cited in this report, which we look forward to reading.
“We’re always open to returning to subjects we’ve published on before to see how the sector is changing if we’re able to secure the funding to do so.”
Nayyara Tabassum, the NCVO research and insight manager who leads on the Almanac, said the umbrella body recognised the “tremendous” contribution of religious and faith-based charities to civil society and that NCVO was working to improve the Almanac.
Tabassum said: “We are aware that the definition of ‘general charities’ – originally designed for ONS accounting – has its limitations, and are undertaking work to review this as part of a wider project to improve the Almanac process and outputs.
“In consultation with key stakeholders from government, sector leaders and faith-based organisations, we would be open to including faith-based organisations in our definition of ‘general charities’ given the increasing importance of religious organisations’ contributions to the sector.”
Jehangir Malik, director of Mercy Mission UK, said: “The faith-based charity sector is a growing part of Britain’s civil society landscape and one that has already shown itself to be offering essential services to some of Britain’s most deprived communities.
“This report offers valuable insights into the wide-ranging contributions of Britain’s Muslim community to civil society. Britain’s Muslims are diverse, dynamic, energetic and often young.
“The report also highlights the important contributions made by women and young people to the sector, while noting that more can be done to empower them.
“We hope this report inaugurates a long-term conversation between Muslim civil society organisations, the private sector and policymakers, nationally and regionally, that result in productive partnerships at a local, regional and national level.”