Christian giving takes several forms: regular church contributions, percentage-based tithing, nonprofit donations, and practical help for people in need. The available research shows meaningful differences by church size, attendance, age, country, and religious identification. Because the sources use different populations and years, each figure below keeps its original geography, measurement period, and survey scope.
Table of contents
- Recent U.S. church giving
- Giving by attendance and church age
- How U.S. Christians define tithing
- Churches, nonprofits, and help for people in need
- Giving patterns in Western Europe
- Tithing across Latin America
Recent U.S. church giving
The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) tracks percentage changes in cash giving among ECFA-member churches. Its State of Giving 2025 report compares 2023 with 2024 and also gives annualized changes across 2014–2024. These are not dollar totals for every U.S. church; they are changes within the ECFA-member sample, segmented by the churches’ 2024 annual revenue.
From 2023 to 2024, cash giving increased in every revenue group reported by ECFA:
| 2024 annual revenue | Cash-giving change, 2023–2024 |
|---|---|
| $20 million or more | 2.1% |
| $10 million up to $20 million | 4.6% |
| $6 million up to $10 million | 2.7% |
| $4 million up to $6 million | 1.3% |
| $2 million up to $4 million | 1.0% |
| Under $2 million | 1.8% |
| All ECFA churches | 2.6% |
The largest one-year increase in this revenue comparison was 4.6% among churches with $10 million up to $20 million in 2024 annual revenue. The smallest was 1.0% among churches with $2 million up to $4 million. Across all ECFA churches, cash giving rose 2.6% between 2023 and 2024. ECFA, State of Giving 2025
The longer view is more restrained. Across all ECFA churches, cash giving had a 0.1% annualized increase from 2014 to 2024. By revenue group, the annualized changes over that decade were 1.8% for churches at $20 million or more, 1.6% for $10 million up to $20 million, 2.3% for $6 million up to $10 million, 1.4% for $4 million up to $6 million, 0.4% for $2 million up to $4 million, and 1.8% for churches under $2 million in 2024 annual revenue.
These figures illustrate why a single recent percentage should be read carefully. The 2023–2024 movement describes one year, while the 2014–2024 figures are annualized changes across a ten-year period. Both describe cash giving among ECFA churches, rather than the total amount donated by all U.S. Christians.
Giving by attendance and church age
ECFA also separates cash-giving changes by average attendance and organizational age. In the 2023–2024 comparison, churches with attendance of 1,000 to 2,000 saw cash giving rise 4.9%. Churches with attendance under 1,000 saw a 1.6% increase, while churches with attendance of 8,000 or more saw a 1.1% increase.
For the 2014–2024 annualized comparison, ECFA reported a 0.3% cash-giving increase among churches with attendance of 2,000 to 4,000 and a 0.7% increase among churches with attendance of 1,000 to 2,000. These attendance categories do not represent every attendance band, so the figures should not be treated as a complete ranking of all church sizes. ECFA, State of Giving 2025
Organizational age shows another set of differences in the one-year data:
- ECFA churches under 10 years old saw cash giving rise 6.9% from 2023 to 2024.
- Churches 10 to 24 years old saw a 5.7% increase.
- Churches 25 to 49 years old saw a 2.9% increase.
- Churches 50 to 99 years old saw a 0.7% increase.
- Churches 100 years old or more saw a 3.1% increase.
The highest reported increase by age was therefore among churches under 10 years old, while the lowest was among churches 50 to 99 years old. The 100-years-or-more group rose 3.1%, so the relationship between organizational age and giving is not simply a steady decline with age.
How U.S. Christians define tithing
Barna’s 2022 research examined how U.S. Christians, church givers, practicing Christians, and pastors understand tithing. The groups are not interchangeable, and the study’s percentages describe survey responses rather than a national accounting of church revenue.
Among U.S. Christians surveyed, 21% said they set their church giving at 10% or more of income. Thirty-seven percent said their church giving varies, and 25% said they give nothing to their church. Among practicing U.S. Christians, 42% said they set church giving at least at 10% of income.
Knowledge of the term also varied by group. Forty-three percent of U.S. Christians surveyed said they knew what “tithe” means. The figure was 44% among U.S. church givers and 59% among practicing U.S. Christians. Among pastors surveyed, 99% said they were familiar with the concept and meaning of tithing. Barna, What Is a Tithe? New Data on Perceptions of the 10 Percent
| Survey group | Reported result, 2022 |
|---|---|
| U.S. Christians setting church giving at 10% or more | 21% |
| U.S. Christians saying church giving varies | 37% |
| U.S. Christians giving nothing to their church | 25% |
| Practicing U.S. Christians setting giving at least at 10% | 42% |
| U.S. Christians knowing what “tithe” means | 43% |
| U.S. church givers knowing what “tithe” means | 44% |
| Practicing U.S. Christians knowing what “tithe” means | 59% |
| Pastors familiar with tithing’s concept and meaning | 99% |
Together, these results distinguish three ideas that are often blended in casual discussion: whether someone gives to a church, whether the amount is fixed or variable, and whether the person uses or understands the word “tithe.”
Churches, nonprofits, and help for people in need
Barna’s The State of the Church 2016 reported that 54% of U.S. adults surveyed had given money to a church in the prior year. In the same survey, 22% had given money to a nonprofit other than a church, and 24% had given money to neither a church nor another nonprofit in the prior year.
The results differed by religious identity and practice. Ninety-four percent of practicing U.S. Christians surveyed had given money to a church in the prior year. Among atheists or agnostics surveyed, 23% had given money to a church. Ninety-six percent of practicing U.S. Christians had given to a church or nonprofit, compared with 60% of atheists or agnostics.
These are 2016 survey results, so they should not be presented as current giving rates. They are useful for comparing the populations measured in that study, not for estimating today’s total U.S. charitable giving. Barna, The State of the Church 2016
Giving is not limited to financial donations. In a 2014–2015 Pew Research Center survey, 65% of highly religious U.S. adults surveyed said they had donated time, money, or goods to help the poor in the prior week. This measure combines three kinds of assistance and applies specifically to highly religious adults, rather than to all U.S. adults or all Christians. Pew Research Center, Highly religious people are not alike in all aspects of daily life
Giving patterns in Western Europe
Pew Research Center’s Being Christian in Western Europe surveyed 15 Western European countries in April–August 2017. Across those countries, the median share of adults who said they donate to a house of worship was 24%.
Country-level results for adults who said they give money to their religious organization ranged from 18% in the United Kingdom to 43% in Portugal. The reported adult figures were 41% in Norway, 37% in Italy, 36% in Ireland, 35% in Spain, 33% in the Netherlands, and 18% in the United Kingdom. Portugal’s figure was 43%.
| Country | Adults giving money to their religious organization, 2017 |
|---|---|
| Portugal | 43% |
| Norway | 41% |
| Italy | 37% |
| Ireland | 36% |
| Spain | 35% |
| Netherlands | 33% |
| United Kingdom | 18% |
The same Pew research also reported a Christian-specific comparison for voluntary church giving: 61% of Christians in Norway and 58% of Christians in the Netherlands said they voluntarily give money to their church. Those figures use Christians as the comparison population, whereas the country figures in the table are for adults generally. Pew Research Center, Being Christian in Western Europe
Tithing across Latin America
Pew Research Center’s 2013–2014 survey of Latin America defined tithing as giving a percentage of income to a church or congregation. The results are descriptive survey findings, not personal financial advice, and they measure adults in the countries named.
The share of adults saying they give a percentage of their income to the church was 11% in Uruguay, 19% in Argentina, 19% in Chile, 46% in Nicaragua, 46% in Guatemala, and 43% in Brazil. The spread between these results is substantial: the reported share in Nicaragua and Guatemala was more than four times the reported share in Uruguay.
The survey also reported differences by religious affiliation in two countries. In Peru, 66% of Protestants said they tithe, compared with 12% of Catholics. In Venezuela, 71% of Protestants said they tithe, compared with 18% of Catholics. These comparisons describe the surveyed religious groups during 2013–2014; they do not establish why the groups differed or predict an individual’s giving.
| Country or group | Adults reporting percentage-based church giving |
|---|---|
| Uruguay | 11% |
| Argentina | 19% |
| Chile | 19% |
| Brazil | 43% |
| Nicaragua | 46% |
| Guatemala | 46% |
| Protestants in Peru | 66% |
| Catholics in Peru | 12% |
| Protestants in Venezuela | 71% |
| Catholics in Venezuela | 18% |
Pew Research Center, Religious Commitment and Practices in Latin America
The overall picture is that Christian giving statistics depend heavily on what is being measured. ECFA reports changes in cash giving among member churches; Barna measures stated practices and definitions among selected U.S. survey populations; and Pew measures reported donations or percentage-based giving across specific countries and periods. Keeping those scopes separate makes the comparisons more useful and prevents a church-level trend from being mistaken for a universal Christian giving rate.