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  • Lake Institute Completes First Phase of National Study of Congregations’ Economic Practices: Findings Coming Soon

Lake Institute Completes First Phase of National Study of Congregations’ Economic Practices: Findings Coming Soon

Tuesday, January 15, 2019

NSCEP icon

by David P. King, Ph.D., Karen Lake Buttrey Director of Lake Institute on Faith & Giving

Almost every day, our Lake Institute team finds itself asked to answer questions about trends in giving to congregations:  How many congregations conduct annual stewardship campaigns? How many members are likely to pledge? What percentage of giving comes through weekly offerings versus online? How does debt, endowments, or capital campaigns affect annual giving?

These questions are essential to the over 350,000 congregations across the country. We know that giving to religion (defined narrowly to include congregations, denominations, and missionary societies) makes up the largest percentage of charitable giving in the United States (31% in 2017). But we also know that these giving trends are evolving dramatically as individual religious affiliation and attendance patterns are changing while religious institutions are also redefining their own purposes and approaches to engaging their communities.

The need to address these pressing issues is clear, but it is often hard to know where to start because we lack the information we need. While other nonprofits file annual 990 forms with the IRS that give us quite a lot of insight into their fundraising practices, budgets, and expenditures, congregations are not required to report and therefore few do. We may know less about how congregations receive, manage, and spend money than any other nonprofit sector. And without the knowledge establishing a baseline, providing context, and highlighting best practices, it becomes difficult for religious leaders to know where to start.

To meet this need for information, Dr. King at Lake Institute, along with Dr. Brad Fulton of Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs and Dr. Chris Munn recently joining us as postdoctoral fellow, have spent the last year conducting the largest nationally representative survey focused on congregational finances in a generation. The National Study of Congregations’ Economic Practices (NSCEP) has completed surveys from over 1140 congregations across the United States. These congregations represent all 50 states and a full diversity of denominations and faith traditions. They have reported memberships from 10 to 12,000. Many are staffed by one bi-vocational pastor while others employ dozens of full-time ministry staff. Some were established well before the U.S. became a country. Others were started last year. They reported budgets from $6,000 to $27,000,000.

 

How do congregations receive, manage, and spend resources?

We are eager to dig into this data and share with you what we have learned. Not only will we be able to share how congregations receive, manage, and spend resources, but we will also be able to address how laity and clergy address the taboo topic of faith and money. How often does the topic come up in sermons, religious education, or community outreach? How confident do clergy feel in addressing these questions in their own lives and with those that have been entrusted to their care? More than analyzing data and trends, our study will also seek to address the theological, cultural, and practical orientations toward money.

Throughout the next six months, we will be analyzing the results of our initial survey. We hope you might find us at a variety of venues sharing our initial findings from the NSCEP project. With our Episcopalian friends, we will be offering initial results at the Consortium of Endowed Episcopalian Parishes meeting in February. We will offer extended findings with our partner, Ecumenical Stewardship Center at their Generosity Transformed conference in April/May. And we will be sharing with congregational leaders at The Church Network gathering in July. Alongside these initial in person gatherings, we will make sure to alert our Insights readers to our finding reports. Stay tuned for an executive report that we will make readily available at our website in early summer. Of course, if you are a congregational or faith-based nonprofit leader, we will be implementing these findings into our Executive Certificate in Religious Fundraising courses later in 2019, and we would invite you to register so that you might situate your own organization alongside our national data.

We are excited about what we have been learning about congregations’ economic practices and are eager to share these findings with you. Please feel free to pass this on to others, sign up for Insights, or follow us on Facebook or Twitter to make sure you receive notifications of the latest findings from our study. Of course, we are always eager to hear from you what questions you have for us. As we work with the findings from our NSCEP study, what would you like to know?

Send your questions or comments about the study to lfi@iupui.edu. 

Expanded Perspective

by Anne Brock, Program Manager

One thing I’ve noticed over the last 18 months with Lake Institute is that our courses, seminars and custom workshops remind participants that they are not alone. Whether a first time pastor in a rural congregation or a seasoned senior pastor in an urban setting, everyone deals with money in one form or another. Is there enough money in the bank to keep the lights on this month? Did that last annual campaign raise enough to increase wages for our hard working staff? Will the upcoming capital campaign allow us to replace the boiler? Budgets in the thousands or in the millions both require wise stewardship and thoughtful consideration. The amounts may be different, but the intent is the same.

What’s so exciting about this new study is the wide ranging types of congregations – not just faith traditions, but sizes and locations as well. It is our hope that each congregational leader will find data that relates to her/his specific congregation, to normalize the work that happens day-in and day-out. Through in-person interviews, we’ll hear why it’s hard to talk about money in the context of faith. We’ll learn why congregations spend their money and how they do it. In the end, it is our hope that a congregational leader who happens upon our work will feel less alone, less timid, and more empowered to break through the taboo of money talk in their religious setting.  

A primary purpose of congregations is the creation of community around a common cause or belief. At Lake Institute we seek to create a community too. New communities are created when pastors and lay leaders from a variety of congregations come together for Cultivating Generous Congregations over 6-8 weeks to learn from and with each other. New communities are created when religious leaders, including clergy, lay leaders, and faith-based non-profit executives come together for our Executive Certificate in Religious Fundraising course to expand their technical fundraising skills, but more importantly, start thinking about fundraising as ministry. It is our hope that this new study will broaden our community as well. Most importantly, as in congregational life, it is our hope that the work we do at Lake Institute helps more and more leaders feel less and less alone.

Executive Certificate in Religious Fundraising

We are beginning our sixth year of the four-day intensive Executive Certificate in Religious Fundraising course this February! If you've already attended ECRF, please share the 2019 schedule with your colleagues. We are excited for new partnerships this year as well as returning to our long-standing partners. 

View the Schedule

 

Lake Lecture Announced

We are excited to announce that Lynne Twist will be our speaker for the 16th Annual Thomas H. Lake Lecture! Join us April 11 at Indiana Landmarks in Indianapolis. We look forward to having you attend the lecture at 6 pm with an open reception and book signing to follow. 

Register Now


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