More than a third (36%) of churches across the nation have experienced a decrease in giving since the March shut-down of many in-person gatherings, reports a new State of the Plate (SOTP) study of 1,076 churches in all 50 states.
The decrease indicated by the SOTP study is slightly lower than the 41% decrease reported in a recent national survey of 555 congregations conducted by the Lake Institute on Faith and Giving, a part of the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.
On the positive side, 59 percent in the Lake Institute study indicated that giving had either increased or stayed the same since March. In the SOTP study, the number was higher at 64%.
Further, the new SOTP finding showing 64% holding steady or increasing contrasted with a similar SOTP study in April that indicated giving to churches had dropped by about two-thirds (65%) since COVID-19 became widespread in March.
“This is encouraging news for churches across America,” said Brian Kluth, founder of SOTP, in the press release. “These new findings show that most churches and their families are figuring out ways to survive and even thrive in the midst of all the challenges that the pandemic has thrown their way.”
Giving before the pandemic and now
The Lake Institute study offered a troublesome finding: giving in June 2020 was 6% lower than it was a year ago in June of 2019. The Lake Institute’s report on the study offered these thoughts about downward trends:
[F]actors outside the congregation’s control, such as local economic conditions, the percentage of congregational members having experienced job losses or economic hardship, and the intensity of Covid-19 within the congregation’s state likely also affected giving trends.
Making payroll and government assistance
Eighty-six percent of churches in the SOTP study have been able to pay all staff salaries and benefits in full, leaving 14 percent of churches unable to pay salaries and benefits in full. About a third (32.5%) received help from the CARES Act’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
This SOTP statistic on staff salaries appears to align with the Lake Institute finding that said 14% of those surveyed had to reduce “personnel expenses through salary reductions, layoffs, or furloughs.” However, for the Lake study, the percentage of evangelical churches receiving PPP assistance was much higher than the SOTP study, finding that a little over half (52%) of the evangelical churches surveyed received such assistance.
Looking ahead, the SOTP study showed that 75 % anticipated paying full salaries “in the coming months.” However, in the coming months, 12% anticipate that salaries and benefits will decrease, 25% said they anticipate postponing projects and purchases, 19% said they expected a decrease in funding for some ministry programs, and 8% expected funding to missions and denominations to decrease.
The importance of online giving
The Lake Institute report said the “congregations with already established online giving options and higher percentages of online givers fared better. A majority of congregations (73%) had the ability to make contributions online before March, and among those that did not, 39% scrambled to add online giving options shortly after they ceased in-person services.”
The Lake Institute report said that 94% of congregations with 100 attendees or more have online options in place while 54% of congregations under 50 attendees did not. “No doubt, this digital divide has contributed to the struggle to maintain giving in smaller congregations without in-person services.”
In the SOTP study, “digital giving availability” topped the list of best practices churches use to equip congregants to give generously. Also included on the list (in descending order of most used): benevolence giving, financial/generosity sermons, pastor appreciation offering, and missions/outreach giving, capital campaign, financial curriculum, weekly offertory Bible verse, legacy/estate giving encouraged, and financial/generosity speaker or seminar.
This increase in online giving was also pointed out in the 2020 annual report from Giving USA:
Faith-based organizations [including churches] have found success with online giving, with online donors giving consistently on days other than Sunday, and through the summer months as well.
Chris Lutes is Editor of Planning and Web for the Church Law and Tax.