Just over half of religious congregations reported an increase in the number of donors who gave in the early months of the pandemic, but 41 percent saw a decline in total giving during that period, according to a new survey by the Lake Institute on Faith & Giving, a program of the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.
The institute surveyed 555 U.S. congregations across religious denominations in July 2020 about how they fared in the early months of the pandemic and their plans for the coming year. Most congregations stopped in-person worship in mid-March, and many shifted to online services.
Over all, congregational giving declined 4.4 percent on average from February to June of 2020 over the same period in 2019.
Twenty-eight percent of congregations saw increases in giving, with larger ones more likely to report growth in giving. Catholic parishes and small congregations with fewer than 50 weekly participants reported drops in participation and giving more often than any other group.
Congregations that already had online giving options and higher percentages of online donors fared better. Seventy-three percent offered members a way to make contributions online before March. Among those that did not, 39 percent said they scrambled to add online giving options shortly after they ended in-person services. The smallest congregations were least likely to have digital giving options before and during the pandemic.
Thirty percent of congregations said they have raised funds to support other congregations and nonprofits in need since the pandemic began.
Challenging Financial Picture
The survey also asked about other financial matters.
None of the congregations surveyed expected to increase their budget during the next year. Fifty-two percent said they planned to maintain their current budgets, while 48 percent anticipated reductions. Most of those that anticipated cuts indicated they would be 5 to 10 percent.
Congregations that continued to face a financial shortfall said they planned to take measures such as reducing administrative expenses, developing new fundraising appeals, and drawing down their financial reserves or endowment, if they had any. Just 14 percent of all congregations reported reductions, layoffs, or furloughs of staff.
Sixty-five percent of congregations surveyed received federal Payroll Protection Program loans. A Chronicle analysis of PPP recipients found that religious organizations received more loans than any other cause.
Among the other findings:
- The survey also asked about congregations’ reopening plans. About half had resumed in-person services by July or planned to by September. One-third of congregations indicated that they did not know when they would reopen.
- Congregations’ political orientation seem to have a greater effect on reopening than public health, theological, or financial considerations. Nearly three-quarters of conservative congregations had reopened or planned to reopen by August for in-person religious services, compared with 20 percent of liberal congregations and 49 percent of moderates. Political ideology was recorded in another study by the institute in which religious leaders were asked to indicate the primary political identity of their congregation.
