Giving Bottoms Out; Experts Predict Brighter Future

By RaeAnn Slaybaugh

By now, the Barna Research report has made its rounds: “Tithing Down 62% in the Past Year.” In it, renowned researcher and author George Barna says the proportion of households that tithe their income to the church—i.e., give at least 10 percent—dropped from 8 percent in 2001 to just 3 percent in 2002.

Similar research conducted by Empty Tomb Inc., gauges giving trends since the late 1960s, producing equally dismal results. The group compiled its data in The State of Church Giving Through 2000. Among the most disturbing discoveries:

• While 21 cents of every dollar donated in 1968 went to fund benevolences, this figure had dropped to 15 cents on the dollar by 2000.
• If Americans were giving an average of 10 percent in 2000, an additional $139 billion would be funneling through church channels today. If churches decided to spend those funds helping others, there would be an additional $84 billion for international outreach and an extra $28 billion for congregational activities.
• Eleven denominations reported the same data on a fairly consistent basis: Giving, as a percentage of income, was lower in 2000 than in 1921 or 1933, the depth of the Great Depression.

Why the decline?

“Different challenges have caused people to choose not to tithe,” Barna explains. “For some, the soft economy has either diminished their household income or led to concerns about their financial security.” Experts also point out that 2002 was a year of fear, with threats of terrorism and the prospect of war raising the nation’s level of caution.

Other factors cited include demographic shifts. Most importantly, people in their sixties or older, who make tithing a habit, are being replaced by households headed by young adults who, as Barna explains, have never tithed and don’t plan to.

Better days ahead

Although giving levels are dismal right now, the Religious News Service reports that leaders of faith groups do not see gloom and doom in their futures. Many, they say, find they have to be cautious or prudent with church finances but do not consider their congregations in imminent financial danger.

Maybe this is because, even though giving to churches is down, Americans remain the most generous people on earth. Barna reports that four out of five adults donate money to one or more nonprofits.

And while “nonprofits” encompass everything from the local food bank to Goodwill, Barna determined that churches of all sizes are bound to garner some of that financial support. His research indicates 70 percent of those who attend churches with 100 or fewer members gave last year, compared to 83 percent of people attending churches of 101 to 499, and 87 percent of those who attend 500-plus-member churches.

In a similar report, experts at the National Christian Foundation (NCF)—one of America’s largest community foundations—say they bucked the stagnant economy last year, distributing 4 percent more funds to Christian causes than in 2001. NCF officials credit this increase, in a time of decline, to their organization’s giving model.

“The NCF Donor-Advised Funds allow donors to set aside their charitable gifts in times of plenty,” explains NCF President David Wills. “This enables them to continue to support charities when the economy is unstable—a model key to helping nonprofits, even during a recession.”

Get them giving again

Getting members to tithe is a challenge anytime, but even more so during a recession. Still, Barna has some ideas that might help.

“The most effective approach is long-term—to ensure congregants make their life decisions on the basis of a biblical worldview,” he says. In the meantime, he adds, it is helpful to give evidence of the ministry needs to which people’s money would be devoted: “Show how efficiently your church uses money, demonstrate the life changing impact of the church’s ministry, and establish trust and confidence in the leadership of the church.”

And while it is true the most generous donors in America are people 55 and older (and impossible to replace), experts such as United Press International Religion Editor Uwe Siemon-Netto say other groups—college graduates, Republicans, conservatives, Southerners, mainline Protestants and evangelicals in particular— continue to give at impressive levels. “[Evangelicals] represent only 6 percent of the public, but 9 percent of them tithed in 2002— three times the national average,” he points out.

Barna also singles out college graduates and evangelicals as great givers, but adds registered voters and people from households earning $60,000 or more annually are other key prospects.

In the end, all kinds of demographics factor into the likelihood a person will give to his or her church this year. The good news, however, is that the most important one is in your hands.

“People with the strongest convictions are the most likely to support their worldview financially,” Barna says. “[People must] feel their church is doing significant ministry, resulting in more generous giving.”