A Bad Economy or Is the Church Losing America's Heart?

By Leonardo Blair , CP Contributor

January 29, 2013|5:45 pm

Americans are giving more to charity but the church is increasingly getting less of the goodwill from their pockets. How much less? At least $1 billion worth of it, says the Atlas of Giving, and that's only what's predicted for this year alone.

Despite positive growth in overall charitable donations from Americans in the last three years, religious organizations can expect more than $1 billion less in giving this year than they collected in 2012, according to a report released this month by the Atlas of Giving.
Recognized as the most precise measure of charitable giving in the United States and accounting for the entire giving economy, the Atlas of Giving notes in its 2012 report that while religion remains the largest giving sector in America, its share of the pie will decline from 36 percent to 35 percent this year despite overall increases in charitable giving.
Americans gave $345.93 billion in charitable donations in 2011. In 2012, overall charitable donations increased by 6.7 percent to just over $369 billion. This year, charitable giving, largely fueled by individuals, is expected to increase 1.6 percent to $375.13 billion, according to the report.

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