Only ten percent of evangelicals tithe, according to a study by Infinity Concepts and Grey Matter research.
The study defines a tithe as eight percent or more of a person's income to adjust for those who tithe as a percentage of their gross or their net income. The average donor gives only 2.8 percent of their income to the church.
Overall, 61% of Evangelicals say they gave to their church in the last 12 months. That is down 13 percentage points from 2021 when 74% reported giving to their local congregation.
Ray Pritchard of Keep Believing Ministries says it's a problem of the heart, not the wallet.
“Surely the problem is not the money because we have more today than we have ever had, but hearts are divided, families are divided,” Pritchard says.
Church giving has dropped since 2021, and the numbers were very low even then. In 2021, 13% of evangelicals tithed, and the average evangelical gave 3.2% of their income.
Pritchard says the church needs to wake up.
“Perhaps the giving issue is like the canary in the coal mine. It's a warning of greater problems inside the evangelical church.”
Needs beyond churches
The church isn’t the only ministry affected. Fewer Christians are giving to charities and Christian causes outside the church, the study found. In 2024, 50% of Christians reported giving to another ministry, down from 58% in 2021.
On the positive side, the study found that the more evangelicals are spiritually engaged, the more they give. If you pray and read your bible daily, attend church and a bible study or small group weekly, you are among the 78% who give to the church.
Pritchard says that proves that giving is a spiritual decision, not a financial one.
“If we were to go to churches that take discipleship seriously, I suspect that we will find a much more encouraging response.”
The study found that older evangelicals give more than younger ones. Eighty-two percent of evangelicals 65 and older give to the church, only 58 percent of those 35 or younger.
