Religious Pluralism: The Foundation of Faith-Based Action

The Inclusive America Project (IAP) is pleased to share its short curriculum, “Religious Pluralism: The Foundation for Faith-Based Action.” In this primer, learn how the success of faith-based nonprofits’ prosocial work depends on a thriving religious pluralism, one that serves both faith communities as well as the broader communities in which they are situated. Anyone who celebrates, works in, or funds the US nonprofit sector’s activities has an important stake in religious pluralism.

About 228,000 of America’s nonprofits who work toward non-religious goals are faith-based and identify with a diverse range of religious traditions, including Sikhism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and others. These faith-based organizations tend to be better-resourced in cash and volunteers, longer-lasting, and more integrated into their surrounding communities than their secular counterparts. Therefore, they’re often better-positioned to provide services in the short and long term. Without these organizations, countless individuals and communities across the country would lose access to critical resources and services.

After exploring this primer, you will be able to:

  • Identify examples of faith-based action in the nonprofit sector;
  • Understand the relationship between religious pluralism and the nonprofit sector;
  • Understand why philanthropic and other institutions should care about religious pluralism; and
  • Know how to support a thriving religious pluralism.

Learn more about this research and additional ways that you can take action in another short curriculum on The Multiplier Effect and in The Multiplier Effect’s accompanying report. If you have any questions or would like to learn more, please reach out to us at religionandsociety@aspeninstitute.org.

Share this primer:

Did you know that 15% of America’s nonprofits working towards non-religious goals are actually faith-based? That’s 228,000 organizations! Learn how to support these nonprofits with a new guide from @AspenInstitute’s @Aspen_IAP: https://bit.ly/2F6gBAg.

Faith-based organizations register new voters, run food banks, organize after-school programs, & much more. A new guide from @Aspen_IAP shows why supporting the environment to help these nonprofits thrive is so critical to building an #InclusiveAmerica: https://bit.ly/2F6gBAg.

The success of faith-based nonprofit’s prosocial work depends on a thriving religious pluralism, and a new guide from @AspenInstitute’s @Aspen_IAP is helping to make a thriving religious pluralism a reality: https://bit.ly/2F6gBAg.

If you are concerned with prosocial issues, including environmental and economic justice, you have a stake in the system of religious pluralism. Learn more with a new guide from @AspenInstitute’s @Aspen_IAP: https://bit.ly/2F6gBAg.

228,000 nonprofits in America are faith-based, and we need them and the communities that support them to thrive. A new guide from @AspenInstitute’s @Aspen_IAP shows how you can help these nonprofits build a more #InclusiveAmerica: https://bit.ly/2F6gBAg.