Even though only about one in 50 Americans is Jewish, U.S. Jews donate at high levels, both as individuals and as a community. Most Jews, regardless of their economic status, heed their religious and cultural obligations to give. In fact, 60 percent of Jewish households earning less than US$50,000 a year donate, compared with 46 percent of non-Jewish households in that income bracket.

So what’s behind this extremely charitable behavior?

Two explanations involve education and wealth, traits strongly correlated with philanthropy:

The Jewish community is among the nation’s most educated and wealthy demographic groups. American Jews have an average of 13 years of schooling, the highest for a major U.S. religious community. And 44 percent belong to households with annual incomes of $100,000 or more, the most for any major ethno-religious community.

As education enhances charitable giving at all income levels, it is one key to understanding Jewish generosity. And donors of all faiths, regardless of their religious practices and identities, tend to give more money when their income rises.

Read the full article about Jewish charitable giving by Hanna Shaul Bar Nissim at Philanthropy Daily.