The flow of funds from multi-billion charities to a few bigger institutions this Ramazan may be higher than last year despite their lacklustre donation collection campaigns. However money transfer in the form of zakat, sadqa and khairat seem to be stable, same as last year’s level of Rs150bn; according to an estimate.

Last year the total cash and in-kind donations by companies and individuals were projected at about Rs240bn. Out of this Rs146bn, i.e. 60pc was said to have been disbursed in Ramazan last year.

Informed sources say charity institutions are benefiting from the change in people’s attitude towards zakat utilisation owing to the credibility of many charity organisations.

The volume of total countrywide giving in the holy month does not alter drastically in any given year. It can stay about the same despite a significant annual increase in the income of average families as ‘zakat’ is calculated on the basis of wealth and not income. A person who earns well but also spends liberally may not be liable at the rate that a more conservative spender who stores wealth would be. Muslims are supposed to give away 2.5pc of the total value of their wealth (stocked riches) to help the less fortunate.

Until some years back, people preferred to disburse zakat to deserving individuals and families by themselves, and avoided any intermediaries (people/institutions). They still like to personally help the poor around them but are more willing to support causes. The educated classes living overseas often transfer a sizeable portion of their zakat to reputable institutions.

The visibility of the countrywide network of the Edhi Foundation has been identified as an initial motivator for this change in behaviour of zakat givers. Impressed by the reach of the network and the quality of social service, people became inclined towards diverting donations to Edhi. Later many more institutions were added to the list of credible entities that receive zakat.

“With politically motivated fund grabbers pushed to the sidelines, people get to freely choose causes closer to their hearts and organisations they trust”, a senior person working with a leading charity body said

The expected beneficiaries of higher resource transfers to institutions include names such as SIUT, Shaukat Khanum Foundation, The Citizen Foundation, Aman Foundation and Saylani Welfare Trust, with Edhi ahead of the rest. The attempts to solicit views of mega-charities on expected fund inflows, compared to last year, and profiling of donors proved futile.

The question of why leading charity organisations abandoned aggressive advertisement campaigns for donations this Ramazan drew varied responses. Some hinted that the returns did not justify the massive investment, which dissuaded players from engaging in ‘the billboard battle’ with competitors, in an attempt to get bigger shares of the donations pie.

Others felt that the leading charities have built a support base that they are comfortable with, and in the face of the perception of rising religious intolerance, charities also assume indirect persuasion through gradual image-building works better.

Still others believe that a growing endorsement of reputable organisations by the corporate sector has increased the flow of funds to a level where they do not need to advertise anymore.

Almost everyone agreed that there is a gradual withdrawal of political groups from this space of philanthropy. The government last year restricted all religious outfits and politically motivated groups from collecting donations from the public, particularly in Ramazan. The government moved to act, following reports of charitable funds flowing into anti-social activities.

Even last year’s hike in fund collection by institutions such as Edhi, SIUT, Shakat Khanum, TCF, Amman, etc. was attributed to the sidelining of political elements.

“With politically motivated fund grabbers pushed to the sidelines, people get to freely choose causes closer to their hearts and organisations they trust”, a senior person working with a leading charity organisation said.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that donations during Ramazan spike, with the total collection in the month surpassing what the nation doles out during the rest of the year. The culture of giving is said to be rooted in the citizens’ belief system.

Ahmed Nadeem, head of communication and partnerships at the Centre of Philanthropy, was not able to add significantly to the pool of information on the subject as, he said, the institution is focused on the ‘giving’ trend in the corporate sector.

Some official data of Sindh was quoted in his written reply. The 2014 household survey estimates a total of Rs21bn disbursed in the province. Of this amount Rs3.7bn was zakat and Rs17.7bn was non-zakat donations. In the same year Rs4.8bn Zakat was collected by banks all over the country. The total amount disbursed in the province was Rs0.9bn. The reply attributed this information to the Pakistan Economic Survey.

The traders of Punjab, however, are said to be actively supporting religious-political groups through donations including some portion of zakat. The industry-owning class of the province supports its own charity institutions in health and education sector.

Published in Dawn, Business & Finance weekly, July 4th, 2016