Practicing Christians are 40% more likely to donate to charity than non-Christians, and churchgoers are 75% more likely to donate than non-attendees, according to recent research.

“Givers give, whether that’s volunteering in the community, helping a stranger, or clicking an app for disaster relief,” the American Bible Society (ABS) said in the latest release from its 2021 State of the Bible study. “For many Christians, the connection is clear. Freely we have received the grace of God, lavished on us in many ways. And in all the ways we can, we freely give.”

Americans who generously support charitable organizations, including churches and other nonprofits, are overwhelmingly practicing Christians (90%) and church attenders (87%) -- Protestants or Catholics who attend a religious service at least once monthly and say their faith is “very important” in their lives. In fact, the more frequently people say they attend church, the more money they are likely to donate to charity, the study said. Generous givers are also Bible users (80%) -- those who read the Bible at least three times a year outside of a church service.

The State of the Bible study included 3,354 complete responses from a sample of adult representative of all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

For additional recent research on generosity, see ECFA.org/news. To participate in an ECFA self-study of your own givers’ or donors’ generosity, see ECFA.org/whygive.