MinistryWatch Index Jumps in December
Up about 8% for 2025, lagging stock market performance
ANALYSIS–The MinistryWatch Index jumped more than 7% in December, and 8% for the year. The sudden jump in December in part reflects a significant release of new financial data related to nonprofits from the IRS.
The index had been mostly flat for the year until the IRS released several large batches of data in the last couple of months. The single month jump likely reflects not just a single month of growth, but the accumulation of several months of growth finally showing up in the data.
The MinistryWatch Index is based on the revenue of 38 large Christian ministries, ministries that represent all of the 22 ministry segments tracked by MinistryWatch.
December’s jump, which put the MW Index in positive territory for 2025, means that the MinistryWatch Index moved in the same direction as the markets in 2025 but did not match the market’s growth. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up about 13% in 2025. The NASDAQ was up about 20%.
The lagging growth of the MinistryWatch Index over the past year could suggest concern about the future of the economy.
A recent survey conducted by MinistryWatch of ministry executives found that fundraising has now replaced finding and recruiting staff as their top leadership concern. This concern seems well-founded. Another recent survey found that giving by evangelicals is down.
Other studies, especially those by Giving USA, suggest that philanthropic giving correlates closely to the rise and fall in value of the major stock markets. (Note that this relationship is correlative and not causative.)
To read more about how we compile the MinistryWatch Index, click here.
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