ECFA released its 2023 State of Giving report this week, an analysis of CPA-prepared financial statements from 2,000 of the association’s members covering $25 billion in donations. The trends in giving uncovered by this research accentuate just how important ECFA members’ investment in upholding donor trust truly is.

“This report represents what we believe to be a gold standard in tracking charitable giving to Christ-centered nonprofits and churches,” said Michael Martin, president and CEO of ECFA. “Our news underscores the good work that ECFA members are doing to serve and expand their services in the face of inflation and other challenges.”

One notable takeaway from this year’s report is that giving lost ground in 2022 for the first time in ten years. While actual dollar numbers were up year-over-year, that gain disappeared when factoring in inflation. In fact, giving slipped by 0.7 percent in that calculation. Churches felt the pinch most acutely, with a 3.8 percent dip in inflation-adjusted donations.

Still, these modest decreases actually suggest strength among ECFA member churches and nonprofit ministries. All U.S. charities suffered a 10.5 percent drop in inflation-adjusted donations, according to Giving USA data for 2022, and this continues a trend of ECFA members outpacing the larger charitable sector for four of the last five years.

Giving to ECFA education-related ministries was particularly strong in 2022, with increases of more than 16 percent for Christian higher education and 28.6 percent for K-12 schools. On the other end of the spectrum, homeless ministries saw a 7.4 percent decline, and camps and conferences experienced a 19.3 percent dip. However, those two categories with significant declines still experienced more than 6 percent annualized increases in inflation-adjusted dollars over the last three years. ECFA’s membership as a whole averaged a 2 percent annualized gain from 2019 to 2022.

Notably, ECFA members are relatively optimistic about the days to come. Results from a survey of more than 500 members included in the State of Giving report suggests giving is up in the first three quarters of 2023, especially for churches, and most respondents were convinced that year-end donations would surpass last December’s totals. In addition, 55 percent of churches and ministries are hopeful about cash donations in 2024. Eighty percent plan to maintain or increase the size of their staff, and more than 41 percent of nonprofits and 30 percent of churches even plan to expand programming in the coming year.

“God has been good to us, and we’re standing in faith for blessings to continue as we seek to do His will in serving others,” reported one rescue mission leader in Georgia.

Another promising trend uncovered by this year’s State of Giving report is that–again, in contrast to the broader charitable sector that is more and more fueled by a smaller set of major donors–ECFA members are reporting increases in the numbers of individual donors. The number of donations under $100 also rose, suggesting a possible pool of givers who could develop into higher-giving donors.

The data and the optimism in the State of Giving report reinforce ECFA’s emphasis on trust. By helping members live up to biblical standards of integrity and financial accountability, ECFA is also helping donors trust that member organizations will steward their gifts well–that they will amplify the impact of those investments in local communities and around the world.

ECFA president Michael Martin added, “I hope our news invites even more giving to support the vital work of Christ-centered ministries and churches.”

If you are a ministry or church that wants to be backed by the ECFA seal, please explore how you can become a member today.