Tithe.ly has released its “2023 The State of Giving” report, which provides insights into the means by which givers make their contributions to the local church.
For the report, Tithe.ly, which exists to “serve the Church and advance the Kingdom of God with simple, effective, and affordable church technology,” analyzed billions of dollars that were given to over 37,000 churches and surveyed more than 6,000 individual churches.
According to the report, giving by cash or check has increased by nearly 2.5% since 2019, despite online giving also being up 13%. Giving by credit or debit card is the main means by which people give, as opposed to direct deposit.
Notably, only 1 in 10 churches reported having received over 60% of their donations from recurring givers. Although recurring gifts allow churches to plan better for the future, the report found that nearly half of churches have less than 20% recurring donors.
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Tithe.ly said that while “many churches (around 2,000 surveyed) did not have online giving prior to March of 2020,” more than 80% now offer online giving options—an increase of almost 24% from the pre-pandemic era.
Over 26% of churches surveyed reported that their giving has stayed the same since 2021. The report says that 23.4% of churches saw a 10% increase in their giving, and 23.4% of churches saw their giving increase by 20%. Also, 10.7% of churches said their giving was up more than 20% from the previous year.
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Moreover, 15.9% of the surveyed churches reported a decrease in their giving, 6.3% of whom said their giving had decreased more than 10%.
Tithe.ly reported that “the vast majority of givers in 2022 were people that were already giving,” which begs the question: “Does the church need to grow in encouraging new members (or new believers) to give?”
“Summer may represent a drop in church attendance, but it doesn’t necessarily mean people aren’t giving from June-August,” Tithe.ly reported. “Digital giving and recurring giving solutions are a must, so that people can continue to be faithful no matter where they are.”
A finding worth celebrating is that despite the economic uncertainty brought on by the pandemic, church giving appears to be on the rise: “For most churches, giving continued to stay the same or increase in 2022 (from 2021).”
In fact, Tithe.ly reported that 57.5% of churches said their giving has increased and that “the vast majority of churches anticipate that their total and year-end giving will either remain the same or increase in 2023.”
