This article was updated on 7/9/2025 with responses from the ECFA.
In an effort to restore donor confidence in Christian organizations and to avoid government intervention, in the late 1970s Sen. Mark Hatfield joined with leaders of well-known Christian ministries to form the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA).
Membership in the ECFA is voluntary, but ministries must demonstrate that they meet the “seven standards of responsible stewardship” in order to qualify.
ECFA logo / Canva graphic
The standards cover doctrinal issues, governance, financial oversight, use of resources and compliance with laws, transparency, compensation-setting and related party transactions, and stewardship of charitable gifts.
By demonstrating compliance with the seven standards, a Christian ministry “earns the right to display the ECFA seal, and it joins a community dedicated to accountability, integrity, and responsible governance.”
Currently, about 2,700 ministries pay for memberships with the ECFA, although there are over a million Christian ministries across the nation. ECFA accreditation fees for nonprofit ministries range from $730 to $19,100 annually. The question becomes, what value is the ECFA adding for members, and is it worth the cost?
At MinistryWatch, our answer is a resounding yes. A membership with the ECFA weighs heavily in how we rate ministries in our database (we’ve received pushback for this, as we’ll detail further down). But we spoke with a handful of current and former members to get their perspectives.
“ECFA accreditation signals to an organization’s constituents, donors, and a watching world that it is prioritizing a commitment to honoring their trust,” ECFA Vice President Jake Lapp told MinistryWatch.
In order to renew its membership, a ministry must annually demonstrate its compliance with the ECFA standards. It provides documents such as articles of incorporation and bylaws, annual financial statements, fundraising appeals, governing board and committee meeting minutes, and conflict of interest policies and forms, for the ECFA’s professional staff to review, Lapp said.
The ECFA also says it “periodically conducts in-depth standards check-ins with members to take a closer look at meeting minutes of the governing board, internal financial statements, fundraising appeals, conflict of interest monitoring processes, and more.”
MinistryWatch asked several ministries about how often the ECFA has conducted periodic check-ins for them.
World News Group (WNG) belonged to the ECFA from about 2006 to 2012. WNG’s Director of Development Debra Meissner told MinistryWatch that ECFA didn’t do any periodic check-ins during the six years it was a member. WNG dropped its membership, and Meissner said very few donors have ever asked or remarked about it in the years since.
“The ECFA did essentially nothing to hold us accountable during our time with them,” Meissner said.
“I don’t know exactly what we were paying them, but … I’m guessing it was around $5,000 per year,” she added. “Our board feels our audit by a reputable firm (Forvis-Mazars — a Top 10 global auditing/accounting firm) and the posting of our 990 is sufficient [for accountability and transparency.]”
On the other hand, Blessings International has been a member of the ECFA since 1990. It has received positive feedback from donors about its membership, Donor Development Association Zoe Chesed told MinistryWatch.
Blessings International uses ECFA resources, including its accounting and legacy planning documents, and attends monthly ECFA webinars.
In her role with fundraising and development, Chesed said she finds it to be a source of valuable information.
The ECFA’s last periodic check-in of Blessings International was in 2021, Chesed said, and included one recommendation about the use of photos in fundraising appeals.
Blessings International has been very pleased with its membership and plans to continue it for the foreseeable future, Chesed said.
For a recent MinistryWatch article, Agape International Missions (AIM) argued that MinistryWatch’s donor confidence score is too heavily weighted by ECFA membership.
“The ECFA Membership cost is not the best use of our ministry resources,” AIM said in a statement. “We believe our resources are better utilized directly within our mission to rescue, heal and empower survivors.”
A ministry’s membership (or lack thereof) in the ECFA plays an important role in MinistryWatch’s evaluation of ministries for the MinistryWatch 1000 Database.
MinistryWatch weighs a ministry’s donor confidence score by tallying the answers to 20 questions that look at its board composition, CEO salary, statement of faith, and financial transparency and efficiency. Its membership with the ECFA is worth 20 points out of a possible 100.
Also, a ministry’s transparency grade is measured by whether or not it meets three standards: filing a Form 990 with the IRS, posting audited financials on its website, and, lastly, being a member in good standing with the ECFA.
According to MinistryWatch President Warren Smith, the ECFA offers a valuable service to the Christian ministry world. While “membership in the ECFA is not a cure-all, the ECFA document ‘Standards of Financial Integrity’ is the finest document of its kind,” he said.
“We believe that what we do at MinistryWatch and what the ECFA does is synergistic, not competitive or in conflict,” he added.
However, Smith believes the ECFA could do more outreach in the Christian ministry community, especially to donors. “Their message should be that you should not donate to an organization that is not an ECFA member. An ECFA seal should mean an organization is committed to the highest standards of excellence. I don’t think that most ministry leaders or donors would say that today that’s what it means.”
Editor’s Note: The ECFA asked to clarify information about WNG’s membership in the ECFA. According to ECFA spokesperson Anna Hutsell, WNG was a member of the ECFA from 1985 through 2014 under God’s World Publications and was subject to additional accountability checks during those years. Hutsell did not say how many. Additionally, she clarified that WNG paid less than $1,000 in membership fees during its last year in the ECFA.
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