MinistryWatch Index Falls Nearly 2%
First drop in the Index since May 2025.
ANALYSIS—The MinistryWatch Index fell 1.73% in June, the first monthly drop for the index in more than a year.
The MinistryWatch Index is based on the revenue of 38 large Christian ministries, ministries that represent all 22 ministry segments tracked by MinistryWatch. The cause for June’s drop was a decline in revenue of two significant Index components.
World Vision revenue released new financial information that showed a drop in revenue of $160 million from 2024 to 2025. Food for the Hungry posted new numbers that showed a drop of nearly $25 million.
Two other ministries posted new numbers in June, Covenant House and Denver Rescue Mission. Their annual revenue rose, but the rises at these two ministries were not enough to offset the declines at World Vision and Food for the Hungry.
Until last month’s loss, the Index had risen slowly but steadily since May 2025. However, even with this monthly decline, the MinistryWatch Index is up 3.6% for the year.
A recent survey conducted in May 2026 by MinistryWatch of ministry executives found that fundraising has now replaced finding and recruiting staff as their top leadership concern, with 56% of ministry leaders saying fundraising is their top concern. That’s up from just 31% saying it was their top concern in May 2024.
Ministry leaders remain optimistic about the economy, though slightly less so than in February. In February, 66% of ministry executives said we would not have a recession in the next year. Today, only 58% say so.
About 23% believe we will enter a recession in the next year, up from 18% in February.
Attitudes — and giving — seem to rise and fall based on the performance of the stock market. Studies by Giving USA suggest that philanthropic giving correlates closely to the rise and fall in value of the major stock markets. For the past year or more, the markets have been giving mixed signals. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up about 3.4% since the first of the year, but it is up about 16% from this time a year ago. The MinistryWatch Index was up about 11% during that same period.
To read more about how we compile the MinistryWatch Index, click here.
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