Ready for 2024? Top Giving Trends in Christian Churches

Are you worried about your church’s financial outlook in 2024?

We know how hard it can be just to fund a church’s monthly budget. Regular church attendance has been down since the pandemic started, and leaders often do not know if their monthly commitments will be covered in any given month, let alone decide if fundraising for a building campaign is a good idea.

If we’re being honest here, we know the angel Gabriel isn’t going to descend in a cloud of glory and give you the church’s financial rundown for 2024, but we have the next best thing—data.

Would you love to have a benevolence fund, a community space, or more space for childcare? Studying giving trends really can help you figure out if that’s a possibility, and this year, we’re happy to share with you why we believe things are looking up.

How Is Studying Giving Trends Helpful for Churches?

It might all feel a bit technical rather than relational, but when you can study people’s giving patterns, it helps you and your church in the following ways:

• Shepherding Well – Seeing the trends over time lets you know when members struggle financially, and you can quickly develop spiritual and practical ways to help. Being able to support them as a church through this time can mean everything.
• Flexible Methods – The more you understand why, how, and when people give to the church, the more likely it is that you can adjust to the thought of new ways of giving and update how your church collects donations.
• A Guide – Understanding giving statistics and trends of the past year can serve as a compass for planning out the following year. Past giving patterns can help predict, albeit in a small way, what your church’s giving patterns might be for 2024.
• Budgeting – You can be wise about how you might steward any surplus in advance — having an estimate of the resources that come in means you can budget for existing and new projects that will make the most impact. You can get excited about the number of people you can help.

So, let’s get to the numbers.

The State of Church Giving in 2023

Like we said, it’s good news! The giving habits of Christian congregations in 2023 vary according to denominations, church size, and doctrines on tithing, but overall, giving has increased by 2.6%.

Interestingly enough, the increase is even higher for one type of giving over another.

• Digital giving is steady or has increased in 2023, according to Ministry Brands in its 2024 State of Church Giving Report. And according to the ECFA, churches with online giving saw an increase of 3.5%.
• Churches with no online giving saw increased donations in 2023 of 1.7%.

The increase in both giving types is encouraging, as both 2021 and 2022 giving showed a loss of -6.5% and -3.8%, respectively.

Last year, faith-based givers increased their giving by 10% to their places of worship, with 49% giving more money in 2023 compared to 2022, according to Givelify’s donation data. This year looks even better.

And the good news keeps coming—more than half of faith-based givers plan on donating more to churches and charities in 2024, according to Givelify and the Lake Institute on Faith & Giving’s 2023 report on key trends in religious giving.

Are you starting to feel the stress leave your body? Is your hope returning?

In times like these, people want to feel like they can do something to help their fellow man, and giving their money is a practical way to do that. The more believers know and support projects they give to, the more likely they will give. This is why helping them understand your heart is so important.

Understanding What Church Giving Supports

Do you know where all your own money goes? Would you like accountability for how it’s spent? Sadly, the IRS is not going to put any effort into sending you a government spreadsheet with your dollars highlighted because they know you’re unlikely to be impressed. But the church is different, thankfully.

As you know, a church’s giving history can change at any moment, and they are not like Shel Silverstein’s Giving Tree — they can’t give away everything until there’s nothing left. They have ongoing monthly church expenses, such as church debt, building maintenance, and staff wages, which they will always have to take care of first. About 75% of what comes in goes straight to these costs, leaving 25% for everything else.

You can estimate the remaining dollar amount in advance and allocate it to support your believers, church group needs, church growth initiatives, and your local community.

Which generations are giving more when interest rates are up, job stability is less common, and the global economy is shifting? Let’s have another look at the statistics.

Trends and Patterns in Church Giving: Simplifying the Data

Was there ever a heyday for giving?

In some churches, members were fairly faithful at giving 10% of their income every Sunday. But times have changed, and churches can no longer count on a set amount of giving each month. These days, EnterpriseAppsToday says, only about 4% of members tithe regularly, and even then, they only give about 4.4% of their income. This is totally understandable, given the cost of living.

It can be easy to assume that older members are the best givers. Surprisingly, the biggest givers are not the older generations. Millennials are currently the best givers, especially when their church is providing for their community’s needs in some way.

So you can never discount the younger generations when it comes to giving. If you haven’t seen this in your church, you might need to make it easier for people in these age brackets to give.

How Are Giving Technologies Influencing Donation Behaviors?

When was the last time you wrote a check? Or the last time you carried cash? Thirty to 33% of giving habits have changed. When you think about how you pay your own bills or gift people money, think about how adding those same payment apps could help church members save time.

Churches that have updated and added to their giving options have seen an uptick in the amount congregants give, with digital and recurring giving leading the way. If you’d like to empower your congregation to give more freely, you can set up ways to facilitate their desire to give any gift.

1. Digital Giving

Far fewer people are giving cash, opting instead to give digitally, such as via a phone app, text-to-give, or bank transfer.

Barna’s 2023 report, The State of Generosity, says 44% of US adults are digital donors. They prefer to give this way as they are open to trying new technology and service innovations and have no qualms about doing so.

Better still, 39% of digital donors give weekly. This could be because younger people are taking advantage of finance apps that help them budget, and they can see how much they can give once their bills are paid.

2. Recurring Giving

Think of how many subscriptions you have set up, like Netflix, phone plans, and debt payments. We’re busy. Life is busy.

Churches offering automated giving also fare better. Thirty to 33% of Gen Z and Millennials have set up automated payments to ensure their preferred organizations can count on their donations, and 42% of churches report that more than half of their giving is recurring. This is giving that churches can count on.

3. Cash and Check

Let’s not forget about the members who have been giving for decades.

Two-thirds of those who dislike digital giving don’t trust giving tools and are likely to only give in person or via check for years to come. Ten percent of this group even doubt their money will get to their intended organization at all.

4. Assets

Members are also changing what they give, and churches are seeing more donations in the form of stock, cryptocurrency, real estate, and even NFTs.

5. Legacy Giving

It could be very reassuring to older members to know you’ve made it super easy for them to add their favorite church to their will.

When you make giving simpler for your church, giving becomes more stable, and you don’t worry as much about how you will look after your flock in practical ways, freeing up your time to care for their spiritual needs.

We’ve listed some suggestions on how to make giving easier below.

Planning for the Future: Fine-Tuning the Church’s Giving Strategy

Based on these insights from 2023, church leadership can prepare a giving strategy for 2024 that makes giving easy. Eliminating donation frustration leads to more generosity from members who have various ways to donate.

You’ll also be helping them achieve greater happiness—according to TIME magazine, multiple studies have proved that giving increases the giver’s happiness levels.

Some innovative giving models and strategies worth considering are:

• Phone and computer-giving apps like Venmo, PayPal, and Apple Pay
• Online tithes and an offering donation form
• Text-to-give app
• QR codes that lead to a donation page
• Social media posts facilitating donations
• Church-giving kiosk with a card reader device
• Direct bank transfers, like Zelle
• Direct debit
• Donation forms
• Partners programs
• Easy ways to donate stock, cryptocurrency, and real estate

Our team has helped hundreds of churches update their ways of giving, and we can help you, too. Of course, you can evaluate the effectiveness of the new strategies you implement and make mid-course adjustments as required.

Also, if you haven’t done this already, implement a communication strategy for showcasing transparency and accountability in how donations are used. This can inspire younger members and make them proud to be part of your church.

Help Your Flock by Understanding Church Giving Trends

By simplifying their ways to give, your church family will feel understood and appreciate the flexibility, and we expect you’ll see a good increase in donations in the coming months. Based on current giving trends, it’s even possible that your postponed church expansion project could begin in 2024!

We can’t wait to celebrate with you as you watch your church grow. And who knows, maybe the angel Gabriel will show up to celebrate with you.

Put Giving Trends to Work for You

Ready to learn more about church giving? As your trusted guide for church construction, we understand how overwhelming it can be to try and figure out a building project from the vision to the day you break ground.

We’re available to guide you regarding your current giving and projected needs for an expansion or any church construction projects.

Are you ready to update the ways your church can give? Connect with us today!