Evangelical Giving Down 13% Since 2021

Giving is down among evangelical Christians, according to a new study by Infinity Concepts and Grey Matter Research.

The study — called “The Giving Gap: Changes in Evangelical Generosity” — found that 61% of evangelicals say they gave to their church in the last 12 months. That is down 13 percentage points from 2021, when 74% reported giving to their local congregation.

On average, evangelical Christians gave $2,503 to their church over the past 12 months, compared to $2,953 in 2021.

Additionally, fewer evangelical Christians are giving to Christian ministries or charities outside their church. In 2024, 50% reported giving to a ministry, down from 58% in 2021.

The percentage of their income that evangelicals are donating to church is also down.

On average, they give 2.8% of their income to church, down from 3.2% in 2021.

When the study looked at combined giving to church and charities, the number barely rose. Evangelicals give about 3.3% of their household income, a decrease from 4% three years ago.

“The numbers paint an increasingly bleak picture of evangelical generosity,” Ron Sellers, president of Grey Matter Research, said in a press statement. “Almost every measure of giving was down for almost every type of evangelical. One exception is evangelicals of color, who remained much more steadfast in their giving than did others.”

According to the research, non-White donors are giving more to church and charities. Their generosity as a percentage of their income rose by 8%.

“Evangelicals of color have remained more steadfast in their church giving than have White evangelicals,” the report says.

“Ultimately, the concept of generosity is about more than just giving,” Mark Dreistadt, president and CEO of Infinity Concepts, said. “It is about understanding the true source of our blessings and being generous to others as the Lord has been generous to us. Presumably, engaged believers are growing in their understanding of His gift to us.”

Among the most generous givers, according to the study, are those who regularly read and study the Bible, pray, attend worship and attend church small groups. They are about twice as likely to give to charity and three times as likely to give to church when compared with those who infrequently or never engage in spiritual activities.

Those “fully engaged spiritually” were more generous, giving 5.1% of their income on average, still several percentage points below the 10% that is considered by many as the biblical tithe.

For its purposes, the report considers a tithe to consist of 8% or more of household income. Based on that definition, 10% of evangelical Christians are giving a tithe, down from 13% in 2021.

For those whose spiritual engagement is low or nonexistent, the percentage of their income donated to church or charities drops to 1.8%.

“The American Church has been teaching on giving, tithing, and stewardship for centuries, and the average evangelical is giving away 2.3% of household income,” Dreistadt said. “If we want people to increase their generosity, maybe the key is not to encourage them to give more, but to encourage them to become more spiritually engaged: read the Bible more; get involved with a small group; attend worship more regularly; or listen to more Christian radio.”

Data for the report was gathered in February 2024. A free copy can be downloaded here.

This story has been republished with permission from MinistryWatch.

Kim Roberts is a freelance writer who holds a Juris Doctorate from Baylor University. She has home schooled her three children and is happily married to her husband of 25 years.