This new series will cover church trends in the U.S. In this video, Andrew Esparza, Founder of Kingdom Analytics, will discuss giving trends. A summary of the video content is also provided below.
Giving Trends in the church
Last year Christians in the United States made close to $6 trillion. To put that into perspective, 10% of that would have funded World War I, II, and the Vietnam War combined, in just one year.
– To tithe or not to tithe? For most of America, the answer to this question is resoundingly “not to tithe.” If you polled churchgoers, about 17% would say they are regular tithers (giving 10% or more of their income to the local church). The reality is that the actual number falls closer to 3% of churchgoers.
– Understanding the realities of your community, is important when it comes to giving expectations. It is not always just about income. For example, the cost of living plays a role. Your church may be in a high-income area but, if the cost of living in that area is high as well, then giving may be lower than an area with low-income and low cost of living.
– The first trend that emerged in online church giving was the difference in income levels of church-going households vs. non-church-going households. We have found that around 85% of churches had a congregation with an average household income about 10% higher than that of the surrounding community.
– The second pattern has to do with giving rates. The average church will have an annual operating budget from giving at about 2.5% of the total earned income of the congregation.
Ex. If a church’s congregants take home $10,000,000, the church’s budget from giving for that year will probably be close to $250,000.
– The truth is that most Americans see giving as a luxury or something nice to do once they “have enough money,” but, as we know from Ecclesiastes 5:10a, “Those who love money will never have enough.”
– 75% of Americans report not being financially secure. The church needs to play a bigger role in educating and demonstrating biblical finance.
– If Christians in the United States were a country, they would have the 3rd highest GDP in the world.
– We have been blessed with abundant resources, but we tend not to steward those resources well, with congregations only giving 2.5% of their income.
– Imagine what the church could do or what the world would look like if every Christian tithed, imagine what it would do in the hearts of God’s children.
– There are many steps the Church can take to encourage generosity, and that is something we will cover in part II of this series on giving in the church. In part 2, we will look at people’s psychographics (beliefs, values, preferences, etc.) and how to best communicate to them and engage with them in taking the next steps in their faith. We all know God does not need our money, but he wants his children to experience what giving sacrificially does in our hearts.
For more information on church tithing, please visit our blogs on Church Growth.
Andrew Esparza is the founder of Kingdom Analytics. This company has served over 300+ organizations doing good in the world by helping better connect them to their community, congregation, or customers using advanced demography research. He also has experience in the church world working for the largest high school ministry in the country at North Point Community Church. Andrew graduated from Arizona State University with degrees in Design Management and Tourism Development and is CITI certified in Social and Behavioral Research.
