A researcher is sounding the alarm after new data shows a troubling decline in evangelical giving to churches and charities more generally.

“The takeaway is that there has been a change over the last three years in terms of the generosity of the evangelical community, both toward church and toward nonprofit organizations or charities,” Mark Dreistadt said. “We’ve seen a drop in giving across the board.”

Infinity Concepts and Grey Matter Research found the “proportion of evangelicals giving to church fell 13 percentage points from 2021, constituting a 17% decrease in giving,” according to a press release. While 61% of evangelicals gave to their local church in the 12 months before the study, this was down from the previous timeframe, when 74% of evangelicals had done the same. The same happened with giving to outside ministries or organizations, which decreased from 58% in 2021 to 50% in 2024. Dreistadt said these changes are “concerning” for churches and ministries:

“It’s something that is of concern, certainly, for every church and every nonprofit organization that depends on donor dollars,” he said. “This becomes a very critical thing because … in some cases, the giving is down as much as 15%. And if you’re working with a tight budget, a 15% loss of revenue can be critical.”

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