What is the state of giving in the American church today? Here are several interesting trends from the Ministry Brands’ 2025 State of Church Giving report.
Giving is up.
Around half of American Protestant and Catholic churches (51%) experienced an increase in giving in 2024. Conversely, around one-quarter (24%) experienced a decline in giving. This overall increase in giving was consistent across small (1–249), medium (250–999), and large (1,000+) churches, though large churches saw the greatest increase in giving among the three.
Digital giving is driving the increase.
The largest medium for increased giving in 2024 was via digital giving. Among surveyed churches, 61% saw an increase in digital giving.
Churches can offer a variety of digital giving methods, ranging from giving via a church website, an automatic/recurring giving option, direct bank transfers (such as ACH), mobile app giving, SMS giving (text-to-give), and digital wallet giving (such as Apple Pay, PayPal, or Venmo).
Interestingly, digital giving was largely not a replacement for cash or check giving, as the majority of these churches did not see a decline in physical giving. This indicates that supporting digital giving can encourage an increase in generosity among your congregation.
Younger generations prefer digital giving.
Giving preferences can vary from generation to generation. Churches who support giving via digital wallets were nearly twice as likely to see an increase in giving from the 18–29 age group as churches who do not support giving via digital wallets. When we make it easier for congregants who are more comfortable with digital giving to be generous, we can better support their spiritual growth.
Recurring giving is a key option.
While only 54% of surveyed churches offer automatic or recurring giving options, recurring giving accounted for 42% of digital donations in 2024. In addition, recurring gifts were up by 10% in 2024 compared to 2023. These statistics should encourage your church to make supporting recurring giving a priority.
Help your congregation grow in generosity.
Martin Luther once remarked that the Christian goes through three conversions: the conversion of the heart, mind, and purse. As is the case with a conversion of the heart or the mind, a transformation of the purse requires that we remove as many hurdles as possible.
While giving is trending up, money still represents a real stronghold in our culture, and people need to be regularly challenged to see their resources differently. By expanding the ways that people can give, you can help followers of Christ find freedom and growth through the practice of generosity.
