Dwindling donations to churches due to a variety of factors

(ANALYSIS) The holiday season is a time for thinking of those who are less fortunate. Donating to charity has become a tradition for millions of American families. But these habits are evolving as an increasing number of people identify with not being religious.

Americans continue to be generous — but religious organizations saw a drop last year. That has some people worried about whether this is the start of a trend and what that could mean for society going forward.

A report released earlier this month conducted by the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and Vanguard Charitable found the number of Americans donating to such groups has slowly decreased over a span of 16 years starting in 2000. Overall, donations to all non-profits and charities are in decline.

That year, 66% of Americans gave to charity. By comparison, donations dropped 13%, which equals 20 million fewer households giving to charity, in 2018, the last year figures are available.

Churches, for example, do plenty of good for those who are less fortunate or battling drug abuse. They run food pantries, soup kitchens, clothing drives and counseling sessions. Some increasingly worry that choosing not to give money to churches will adversely impact the lives of millions of Americans.

“Faith is one of the best predictors of an individual’s religious giving as well as overall charitable giving,” said Dr. David King, who is the Karen Lake Buttrey Director of the Lake Institute on Faith & Giving at Indiana University and also an assistant professor at the school. “A decline in Americans’ religious affiliation and attendance may be one reason for a decline in giving to religion. Religious giving is most often categorized narrowly as gifts directly to congregations, denominations, missionary societies and religious media. Religious giving declined 1.5% last year [in 2018], and that also was the first time it has fallen below 30% of total overall giving. Does that mean that other faith-based organizations are experiencing similar declines? I do not think that we know, but I would caution that is not necessarily the case.”

The survey comes as Chick-fil-A recently announced they had decided they were no longer donating to two organizations — the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and The Salvation Army — accused of holding anti-LGBTQ positions. Writing in National Review, editor Rich Lowry noted the following: “If you think that volunteering for an organization that is raising funds to provide food and housing, among many other services, for the needy is an inherently praiseworthy act, you haven’t been following the woke left-wing activists cutting a swath through American culture.”

This political moment in time — coupled with the increase in religious “nones” — have had a chilling effect on religious groups. Also hurting faith-based charities have been financial and sexual scandals at various within the Roman Catholic clergy and evangelical pastors. The Catholic church has other issues connected to charity. Just last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that Peter’s Pence, a special collection from Catholics around the world taken up every June, is largely used to plug the Vatican’s deficit and to keep things running there.

Rod Dreher, at his blog for The American Conservative, said: “Can you imagine donating to a charity that only spends ten cents of every dollar on actual charity? Who would do that? The pope is not breaking any laws by doing this — he has a right to spend the donations as he likes — but this is not what the church tells Catholics it is doing with the donations.”

Peter’s Pence is a great example of a potentially bad charity. There’s lot of good work being done by various groups (GuideStar is a great online tool to check tax forms and other materials tied to giving). The important thing as a donor is to educate yourself on the charities that give the most money to the cause they champion, and less to payroll, rent and expenses.

At the same time, millennials, who grew up during the Great Recession, are also giving less of their income to charity, largely due to the economic downturn. But this generation, according to a recent Pew Research Study, found that millennials tend to be unaffiliated when it comes to a religious tradition. That, too, means less money being donated to religious-based charities.

Pew found that the number of Christians in America is steadily declining. Both Protestantism and Catholicism are experiencing losses of population share, two faiths with a tradition of charity. Forty-three percent of Americans identify with Protestantism — down from 51% a decade ago. Only 20 percent said they identify as Roman Catholic — that’s down from 23%.

In Philanthropy Roundtable, a piece under the headline “Less God, Less Giving?” by researcher and author Karl Zinsmeister warned, “Rising numbers of Americans believe that religious activity can be stopped or pushed entirely into private sanctums without any public cost. Those Americans are mistaken.”

Zinsmeister said going to church less and donating less money to religious groups will also have a global impact. Americans give $44 billion annually, according to the Acton Institute, to help the poor outside their borders – and that doesn’t include the $33 billion distributed as aid by the federal government. Secular societies do give less — see Europe — and that’s bad for everyone.

“I believe one of the best ways that churches and faith-based groups can increase donations is to share clearly their mission — what they are doing and why it matters to the world,” King said. “Faith is such an important bridge for many people, connecting them to communities locally and around the world. It is also a foundational source for why many feel called to give. Strengthening those connections and sharing how religious traditions and practices can shape donors, organizations, and communities is a wonderful asset to help develop donors to increased generosity that benefits not only the recipients of those gifts but givers themselves.”

Clemente Lisi is a senior editor and regular contributor to Religion Unplugged. He currently teaches journalism at The King’s College in New York City.