Charter Member Billy Graham Evangelistic Association Resigns from ECFA

New ‘leader care’ standard was impetus for resignation, ECFA states.

This article was updated on 10/6/2025 with information from BGEA and Samaritan’s Purse about the decision to leave the ECFA.

The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) and Samaritan’s Purse, two of the largest Christian ministries in the country, have voluntarily resigned their membership in the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA).

Franklin Graham (Photo courtesy of Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Used with permission. All rights reserved).

The membership changes report by the ECFA shows that both resigned their membership on October 1, 2025.

BGEA was a charter member of the ECFA when it was founded in 1979. Only a couple years later in 1981, Samaritan’s Purse, the relief and development agency led by Franklin Graham, also joined.

“Founded 40 years ago by Billy Graham and other evangelical leaders, Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability has grown from a visionary and faithful group of 150 charter members to over 2,600 leading churches and ministries across the United States today,” the ECFA website reads.

The ECFA confirmed the resignation of BGEA and Samaritan’s Purse from ECFA membership.

“ECFA was informed that the rationale for these resignations is a lack of agreement with the new Excellence in Leader Care Standard for ECFA-accredited members,” Jake Lapp, vice president of member accountability, told MinistryWatch.

“While we are disappointed that the leaders of BGEA and Samaritan’s Purse have decided to withdraw from ECFA, we honor their legacy,” ECFA President and CEO Michael Martin said.

“Nearly 50 years ago Rev. Billy Graham’s leadership was one of the primary catalysts for ECFA, and these two organizations have served as invaluable partners in the ministry accountability and integrity movement for many years. We wish them well as they continue to pursue their missions,” he added.

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The new “leader care” standard was introduced in March 2024. Lapp said feedback was received for about a year and a revised standard was published in March 2025. The ECFA anticipates requiring members to comply with the new standard by January 2027.

The standard states, “Every organization’s board and senior leader shall work together to develop a care plan for the senior leader. The plan shall be approved annually by the board to demonstrate the organization’s commitment to caring proactively for the leader’s well-being and integrity.”

The commentary about the leader care standard indicates that the ministry’s board and its senior leader are to “partner together to create a plan that provides proactive care for the holistic well-being of the leader and supports his or her integrity.”

Other Christian leaders praised the new leadership standard. “The health of any ministry is directly tied to the health and vitality of its leaders, from founders to those who come after. Spiritually vibrant leaders create spiritually vibrant ministries,” Missio Nexus president and CEO Ted Esler said. “At Missio Nexus I work directly with hundreds of ministry leaders and know firsthand the weight that comes with leadership responsibilities. ECFA’s emphasis on proactively raising the bar for leadership health will bless ministries for years to come.”

BGEA is one of the nation’s largest Christian ministries dedicated to evangelism. It has annual revenue exceeding $224 million. In the MinistryWatch database, BGEA earns a failing donor confidence score of 7 out of 100—meaning MinistryWatch recommends that donors withhold giving. It also earns a D transparency grade because it does not file a Form 990 with the Internal Revenue Service and is no longer a member of the ECFA.

Samaritan’s Purse has a donor confidence score of 36 out of 100, which also means donors should withhold giving to the ministry. It files a Form 990 with the IRS, but resigning from the ECFA lowers its transparency grade to a C. Its annual revenue is $1.2 billion, making it the second largest relief and development ministry in the country.

According to the ECFA fee schedule, Samaritan’s Purse membership likely cost about $19,100 per year.

MinistryWatch did not receive a statement from either ministry about resigning from the ECFA before the time of publication, but will update this article with any statement we receive.

Update: In a July 2 letter from Franklin Graham to ECFA President Michael Martin, Graham wrote that it was the conviction of BGEA and Samaritan’s Purse that the ECFA has “ventured outside its founding mission, purpose, and practice,” thus causing the ministries not to renew their membership.

Graham acknowledged his father’s role in founding the ECFA, but said that the new “leader care” standard puts the ECFA in the “role of trying to be the moral police of the evangelical world.”

“While ECFA has proven expertise in matters of financial practices of nonprofit organizations, it does not offer its members expertise in developing ‘care plans’ for leaders,” Graham wrote, adding that new standard is too ambiguous.

Graham’s full letter can be read here.

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