As churches made their way through 2022, they had real, concrete reasons for optimism and hope. We were coming out of the isolation of the pandemic. Many churches had made the jump to new technologies that would help make giving easier and safer and reach more people!
Were your church’s offering totals down in 2022? Maybe not, depending on how well you were receiving income during the days of the COVID pandemic. If you did start 2023 in a deficit, you may be wondering whom to blame: your members, the finance committee, the folks who manage your church’s endowment funds, or maybe the pastor for not preaching stewardship enough. Before we start pointing fingers, it might be helpful to examine some hard data.
GivingUSA, a non-profit organization that carefully watches charitable giving, released its 2023 report about how people in the USA gave during 2022. GivingUSA reports both where the giving came from and what kinds of organizations received funds.
An important aspect of this reporting is that GivingUSA does year-to-year comparisons of actual dollars and also includes comparisons of “inflation-adjusted” dollars.
So, what are the revelations from the report that are important for church leaders to know? Here are just five I’ve gleaned from looking over the data.
1. Americans gave less overall to charitable causes last year.
2. People gave slightly more to religion in 2022, but growth in giving slowed a bit.
3. Inflation gets a good portion of the blame.
4. Religion still gets the largest slice of the charitable giving pie, but it’s half of what it was forty years ago.
5. There are more charitable organizations to give to than ever before!
Was there any hopeful news in the report?
Yes! While religion’s share of charitable giving decreased by half in the past twenty years, one sector of charitable giving’s percentage has doubled: human services. These are organizations whose mission is to meet human needs -- direct services to people who are struggling. They feed our hungry, strengthen our communities, shelter our homeless, care for our elderly, and nurture our young.
Does that sound familiar? These needs have been a critical part of the church’s identity through most of our history and seem to continue to be where donors are choosing to invest their money to make an impact. For United Methodists, these are the places where we shine!
The temptation for local churches when financial gifts are declining is to cut back on programs and outreach, and that is often a turn in the wrong direction. If anything, these are the days when churches need to be more engaged with their communities – not just discerning needs on their own but listening to people across the community and exploring how they can partner with other organizations to meet human needs. Being open to using the assets we have (physical plants, volunteers, networks, and more) can open doors to new ways of being the church in our communities.
Remember the teaching of the one we’ve decided to follow:
“… I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me. Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.” -- Matthew 25:35-40 (NRSV)
excerpt from a story by Ken Sloane, Director of Stewardship & Generosity, Discipleship Ministries
United Methodist Church Giving is about people working together to accomplish something bigger than themselves. In so doing, we effect change around the world, all in the name of Jesus Christ. To read stories about the generosity of United Methodists click here.
