ECFA State of Giving Report Unveils Cautious Optimism

Giving modestly rebounds—and demand continues to rise

The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) has published its 2025 State of Giving report. Released on Giving Tuesday, the latest report offers a detailed look at how Christ-centered ministries are weathering the ongoing economic turbulence.

The State of Giving analysis draws on CPA-prepared financial statements from more than 2,000 ECFA member organizations—representing over $37 billion in total revenue—as well as a financial outlook survey completed by more than 1,100 ministry leaders.

During a webinar unveiling the report, ECFA President and CEO Michael Martin described the report’s release as being “like Christmas morning,” noting that the 2025 giving picture looks noticeably brighter than in recent years.

Martin especially highlighted the report’s evidence of a rebound in giving: after two consecutive years of inflation-adjusted declines, cash giving to ECFA members has turned around, increasing 1.5% after inflation.

The report also highlights several key contrasts between churches and other nonprofit ministries. Churches saw a 2.6% increase in cash giving, while nonprofits reported a 1.2% rise.

It is the second consecutive year that churches have outpaced nonprofits in giving growth. Jake Lapp, ECFA vice president of member accountability, said that until last year, nonprofits had consistently outpaced churches in cash-giving growth.

Among nonprofit categories, the fastest-growing segments are foundations (18% change), camps and conferences (17% change), and anti–human trafficking ministries (12% increase). Rescue missions, which had seen steep declines in previous years, returned to slight growth—a positive shift after a difficult period.

The report notes that domestic missions—specifically education, including graduate, seminary, and K–12 programs—ranked among the lowest-performing categories in 2025.

The data also sheds light on how funding for these ministries works: Roughly 75% of ECFA members’ total revenue comes from individual cash gifts, with government grants accounting for only a small share of support.

Legacy and bequest giving remains underdeveloped, with most ministries receiving less than one-quarter of their revenue from estates and planned gifts.

The report also notes that fundraising costs as a share of giving continue to decline, suggesting that ministries are generally raising more while spending proportionally less.

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Many organizations reported holding fundraising and marketing expenses flat or even decreasing them. ECFA encouraged members to use its GiverConnect platform more broadly to help connect donors with trustworthy ministries. MinistryWatch also hosts an extensive database rating over 1,300 ministries in areas like financial efficiency, financial transparency and donor confidence to help donors assess which ministries to give to.

Martin emphasized the report’s uniqueness when compared with broader philanthropic trends. He compared the report’s findings with Giving USA’s broader “giving to religion” data. ECFA’s data focuses specifically on Christ-centered/evangelical ministries, whereas Giving USA covers the broader religious landscape, he said. For example, while Giving USA reported a 1% decline in religious giving after inflation, ECFA members saw a 1.5% increase, a 2.5-point difference.

Although the report shows a rebound in giving, it does not remove underlying challenges. Demand for ministry services is rising sharply: about three-quarters of ECFA members report increased demand for their programs. While 96–98% say they feel financially able to sustain their current programs, fewer feel ready to launch new initiatives.

Higher operational costs driven by inflation are putting additional pressure on budgets, making it harder to both maintain current work and expand into new areas, particularly for mid-sized nonprofits and fields such as missions and education, according to the report.

Ministries are also navigating uncertainty around new tax laws, the need to invest in technology, and the ongoing work of deepening donor discipleship and engagement in more complex environments.

Looking ahead to 2026, the report identifies technology and donor relationships as priority areas. Ministries plan to continue investing in tools for financial management, automation, data-informed decision-making, and donor development, including AI and upgraded donor systems.

But leaders also report renewed focus on traditional initiatives like leaning into personal relationships, discipleship-oriented fundraising, diversified marketing (direct mail and digital), and even influencers and ambassadors to engage supporters.

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