Cash donations to Evangelical churches slipped by 0.7% during 2022 from 2021’s levels, according to the 2023 State of Giving report from the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA). The dip was the result of a variety of economic factors, including stock market fluctuations, declines in cryptocurrency values during the year and high inflation.
The decline also reflected “near historic lows” in trust in churches and religion, according to the report’s authors.
Cash donations make up $21 billion of all revenue among ECFA member congregations during 2022. Non-cash giving (including donated services and gifts in kind) accounted for another $4.7 billion and the rest (tuition, grants, program fees, investments and other revenue sources) represented $4.3 billion.
That’s big money, but it has been bigger: overall, cash giving dipped by 0.7% in inflation-adjusted dollars, according to the report.
According to financial statements from 2,000 members of the ECFA used to generate the report, members experienced a 0.2% slip in cash giving, a turnaround from the 5.6% growth rate during 2020-2023. Church members experienced a 3.8% decline in cash received, continuing a fall from 2020-2021, when cash received fell by 6.5%.
There was no correlation between ministry size and cash received. While the three lowest tiers of ecumenical recipients — those with annual revenue less than $250,000, between $250,000 and $500,000, and between $500,000 and $1 million — all experienced declines during 2021-2022, so did the top tier – those with annual revenue in excess of $100 million. Among churches, the top tier — those with annual revenue in excess of $20 million — were the only ones to experience cash giving growth. All other levels saw drops.
There was an inverse correlation between the age of the organization and changes in cash receipts. The older the organization, the more likely it was to have experienced a decline. The oldest organizations — those that have been around for more than 100 years — saw a 3.6% drop in cash, while those that have been around for half a century to just under 100 years saw their cash receipts decline by 1.9%. Those that have been in existence for either 25 to 49 years or 10 to 24 years saw their cash receipts drop by 9.5%. Only those that have existed for less than a decade saw increases, with their cash receipts jumping 6.7%.
Funders increasingly focused their largesse on education recipients. Kindergarten through 12th grade institutions saw a 29.6% jump in funding during 2021-2022, compared with 15.1% the previous year. Colleges and universities benefitted from a 17.1% increase, up from 4.7% in 2021 and graduate and seminary-focused recipients saw a 16.9% rise, up from 4.7% previously.
The list of recipients receiving funding bumps was rounded out by associations and societies, which experienced a 9.6% increase in funding (up from a 9.3% increase a year earlier) while the rate of increase among medical, dental and health services slowed from 15.3% during the 2020-2021 period to 8.2% last year.
Cash receipts for churches and ministries appear to be stronger in 2023. Six in 10 churches report higher cash receipts, while 10% indicated the levels had not changed. Among ministries, 43% indicated their cash receipts had increased, while 19% said they were unchanged.
Other forms of revenue have not experienced the same growth in 2023. Only 35% of churches said investment earnings, tuition, government grants and other revenue was higher, compared with 55% for whom these revenue sources have remained the same. Among ministries, only 20% said these sources had increased, while 42% reported declines in these sources.
There is hope, however, for a final kick in 2023. Among churches, 56% said their revenue in December 2023 so far is higher than in December 2022, while just more than half (51%) of leaders at ministries said the same. Another 18% of churches had no change in their December year-over-year revenue, along with 20% of ministries.
Ecumenical organizations are fairly bullish about 2024’s potential for cash donations. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of churches are optimistic about their cash receipts for the upcoming year, as are 45% of ministries. Only 19% of churches are pessimistic, along with 27% of ministries.
A copy of the report is available here: https://www.ecfa.org/stateofgiving/
