2013 ECFA Annual State of Giving Report Shows Solid Increases in Charitable Contributions for Churches, Nonprofits
Giving to Evangelical Churches and Ministries Outpaces Giving to Secular Charities
WINCHESTER, Va. — ECFA announced in its 4th Annual State of Giving Report that annual cash charitable giving to ECFA-accredited organizations increased 6.4 percent between 2011 and 2012. It reflects total cash donations of $11 billion in 2012, an increase from the previous year’s $10.3 billion.
Last year, ECFA reported a 1.7 percent increase in giving to its members for 2011, compared with a 5.8 percent increase the previous year.
Giving to evangelical churches and ministries outpaced giving to secular charities in 2012. The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s recently released giving data for the largest 400 charities in America reflected a giving increase of 4 percent for 2012, compared with 2011. This data most closely correlates with giving to ECFA members with $25 million or more in revenue, which showed a 7.5 percent increase.
“As many American families experience economic challenges, church and nonprofit donors continue to demonstrate faithfulness in supporting God’s work,” said Dan Busby, ECFA president.
While the report focuses on cash giving, non-cash giving also increased 4.8 percent in 2012 to $3.4 billion, compared with $3.3 billion for 2011. Total revenue also increased 8.7 percent to $21.4 billion for 2012, compared with $19.7 billion for 2011.
The ECFA report breaks down more than $14 billion of giving ($11.0 cash/$3.4 non-cash) to members in segments including churches, rescue missions, missionary-sending ministries, colleges and universities, and camps and conferences. The most significant cash giving increases occurred in the following categories: foundations, 25.1 percent; orphan care, 12.4 percent; adoption, 12.2 percent; K-12 schools, 12 percent; short-term missions, 12.1 percent; and higher education, 10 percent.
Summary of Change in Cash Contributions
|
Organizational Segment |
2010 to 2011 |
2011 to 2012 |
|
Adoption |
12.4% |
12.2% |
|
Alcohol/drug rehabilitation |
8.7% |
2.6% |
|
Associations |
-2.3% |
1.9% |
|
Bible study |
10.2% |
2.3% |
|
Camps and conferences |
-9.1% |
6.0% |
|
Child sponsorship |
8.0% |
8.9% |
|
Children’s homes |
-0.4% |
0.3% |
|
Church: denominations |
-6.1% |
3.1% |
|
Church: local |
6.0% |
5.2% |
|
Community development |
-6.0% |
6.2% |
|
Education: higher education |
-6.0% |
10.0% |
|
Education: K-12 |
-8.0% |
12.0% |
|
Evangelism |
4.2% |
3.3% |
|
Foundations |
-6.0% |
25.1% |
|
Leadership training |
1.4% |
6.3% |
|
Literature publishing |
8.5% |
7.4% |
|
Media |
6.2% |
5.3% |
|
Medical |
-0.2% |
6.8% |
|
Missions: international |
5.4% |
1.6% |
|
Missions: domestic |
3.2% |
1.2% |
|
Missions: short-term |
21.0% |
12.1% |
|
Orphan care |
11.1% |
12.4% |
|
Other |
1.9% |
4.4% |
|
Pregnancy resource centers |
12.2% |
6.9% |
|
Prison |
-0.4% |
2.2% |
|
Relief and development |
-4.7% |
9.0% |
|
Rescue missions |
8.4% |
7.0% |
|
Student/youth |
10.2% |
2.7% |
|
Year-to-year change |
1.7% |
6.4% |
The report reflected slightly stronger giving increases to larger charities compared to smaller ones.
|
Annual Revenue |
2010 to 2011 |
2011 to 2012 |
|
Under $5 million |
.08% |
2.8% |
|
$5 to $25 million |
5.7% |
4.7% |
|
Over $25 million |
6.8% |
7.5% |
The 2011-2012 report is based on the data of 1,634 ECFA members (2010-2011 data based on 1,481 members). While ECFA currently has more than1,800 accredited members, certain members are not included in this study because they were accredited by ECFA in the last two years, and comparable financial data for 2011 and 2012 is not available. The data, unadjusted for inflation, is not from surveys of the member organizations, but comes directly from financial statements prepared by independent Certified Public Accountants – primarily audits.