Study shows mixed bag on religious giving

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/nba.30672
• Date: 01 November 2019
• Published date: 01 November 2019

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Vol. 362 November 2019

Experts call for more skills-based volunteerism

in disaster philanthropy

Leading experts in the eld of corporate volun-

teerism are calling for companies to leverage the skills

and knowledge of their employees in the disaster

philanthropy arena, an area where most companies’

giving extends only to cash and product.

In a white paper recently published by Common

Impact, a national nonprot focused on connecting

corporate volunteers with nonprot partners, Dani-

elle Holly, the group’s CEO, argues that companies

should expand their focus from the immediate needs

of impacted communities to preparation and com-

munity resiliency.

“By helping communities become more resilient to

disaster events, companies and their employees can

have a much greater impact because their partners will

be better prepared to respond,” Holly told Nonprot

Business Advisor.

“Ultimately, there will be less need for nancial

resources in the immediate aftermath, because

Also in this issue

Conferences and Events: 2019 Conference for

Community Arts Education; the Grant Professionals

Association Annual Conference; the ARNOVA 2019

Annual Conference .............................4

Industry News: Latest data show plunge in donations

compared to 2018 ..............................5

PayPal sees big uptick in donations while broader

sector softens .................................6

Nonprot Research: Decade-long research project

boils down key traits of millennial donors ...........7

Poll shows disconnect between afuent donors and

their children ..................................7

Resources: Candid webinar explores KPIs;

Charityhowto.com webinar offers donor retention

strategies; Webinar outlines core competencies of

nonprot leaders ...............................9

Employment Law: Legal cases that impact nonprots . 10

News: Briefs from around the sector .............. 12

Study shows mixed

bag on religious giving

The well-documented decline in the number of

Americans afliated with any particular religion is

not impacting giving to religious institutions quite

as expected, according to new research from the

Lake Institute on Faith & Giving at the Indiana

University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

While it’s true that fewer Americans overall are

claiming a religious afliation and the percentage

of individuals who are members of a congregation

is declining, these changes are not necessarily evenly

distributed. Instead, some areas are seeing growth in

membership and/or donations while others decline.

According to the new study:

• More than half of all congregations report

growth in either the number of regularly participat-

ing adults or money received via donations from

parishioners.

• Congregations experiencing the highest per-

centages of growth include those located on the

West Coast, younger congregations formed in the

past two decades and larger congregations.

• Among religious traditions, Catholic con-

gregations face the greatest challenges, with over

half of all parishes declining in size and donation

revenue over the past three years.

• Half of mainline Protestant congregations

declined in size, while only 38% indicated a decline

in donation revenue.

• Just over half of black Protestant congrega-

tions reported growth in both size and donation

revenue.

• Evangelical congregations reported the high-

est percentage of congregations remaining the

same in size.

For more information, the study can be accessed

in full at https://bit.ly/2mdfKoJ. ■

(See VOLUNTEERISM on page 2)