CHRISTIANS are generous charitable givers, but “committed Christians” — defined as those who attend church and read the Bible at least once a week — are found to be the most generous, in the 2025 Generosity Report from the organisation Stewardship.
This organisation, which manages charitable donations from churches, charities, and individuals with the purpose of advancing “the evangelical Christian faith” (News, 9 August 2024), reports that, in donating an average of £314 per month, not only do “committed Christians” give away almost five times the UK monthly giving average, but they experience the most joy from doing so. Those aged between 18 and 24 give the highest proportion of their income (10.63 per cent).
The report records £109.6 million in grant payments: an increase of 12 per cent on the previous year. In a survey of 6000 respondents — 2000 more than last year’s survey — “Committed Christians” were giving an average of 11.6 per cent of monthly income; “Practising Christians” 7.99 per cent; “Churchgoing Christians” 5.30 per cent, and “Cultural Christians” 0.84 per cent.
Of those who attended church regularly, 93 per cent were giving to their church; 82 per cent to Christian charities; 71 per cent to secular charities; and 51 per cent to Christian workers. The charity acknowledges the levels of generosity, but suggests that a “giving gap” remains. Affordability is identified as one barrier.
Many respondents with a deeper Christian practice expressed “powerfully positive emotions associated with their financial giving such as ‘fulfilled’, ‘satisfied’ and ‘at peace’.”
Alignment on values and cause effectiveness are generally a bigger influence than faith affiliation in deciding who to give to. Generosity varies across denominations, but those classifying as Independent, Pentecostal, or Orthodox, on average, gave away the highest proportion of their annual income, at 10.2 per cent, 9.9 per cent, and 9.7 per cent respectively.
Generosity varies significantly with denomination. Anglicans accounted for nearly half the total sample, at 43 per cent, and also had the largest proportion of “Cultural Christians”, at 67 per cent.
Stewardship’s chief executive, Janie Oliver, said: “Our prayer is that the findings, together with our recommendations and resources, will both support our donors as they grow in their generosity, and help our church, charity, and individual partners to invite support with more confidence.”
The C of E’s National Adviser on Giving and Income Generation, Jonathan de Bernhardt Wood, described giving and receiving as two sides of the same coin. “The more we realise that everything we have is a gift from God, the more we are able to give it away,” he said.
