If you have sensed a shift in giving at your church recently, you are not imagining it. Donor confidence is changing, and the reasons are more nuanced than you might think.
Research from Dunham + Company, conducted at the close of last year, surveyed 903 U.S. donors and found that the giving landscape this year is defined less by financial hardship and more by uncertainty. Understanding that distinction matters, because the way you respond to uncertainty is very different from the way you respond to a recession.
Here is what the data shows, and what it means for your church.
Donors are cautious, not broke
The research reveals a striking tension: donor households are actually feeling less financially stressed than in prior years. The percentage of donors reporting their finances as ‘very to extremely challenging’ has held at around 25%, which is actually an improvement from the peak stress levels churches saw in prior years. But at the same time, economic pessimism is rising.
About 40% of donors expect the economy to decline, and nearly half believe it will take more than two years to improve. That uncertainty is translating directly into giving intent: 1 in 4 donors say they plan to give less in the coming year, up from 1 in 6 just two years ago.
When people feel cautious about the future, they slow down, even when they have the resources to give. That is the environment your church is operating in right now.
But generosity is not disappearing. It is hesitating. And hesitation is a leadership challenge, not a budget crisis.
Church-attending donors tell a different story
Here is where the data gets encouraging for churches.
Weekly church attenders give significantly more than non-attenders, plan to continue giving at higher rates, and show greater resilience when economic pressure mounts. When forced to cut back on expenses, religiously engaged donors are more likely to eliminate other spending before reducing their giving.
Perhaps most importantly: over half of weekly attenders who gave less last year expect their giving to return to previous levels. That is not just loyalty. That is discipleship at work.
Younger donors are also showing up in this data in a meaningful way. Gen Z donors are attending church at higher rates than older generations did at the same age, and they give more when they are regular attenders. That is a bright spot for the long-term generosity picture.
How giving behavior is actually changing
Beyond the confidence picture, the research surfaces a clear behavioral shift that every church leader needs to understand: giving is increasingly happening online, and it is happening on mobile devices.
Seven out of ten donors have given online. Online giving is highest among Gen Z (78%) and Millennials (75%). Mobile-first giving is growing across every generation, including 27% of Boomers.
Direct mail still works. In fact, 82% of donors say they respond to it. But the way they respond has changed: donors are now twice as likely to complete a gift online in response to a mailer as they are to mail back a check. The communication channel and the giving channel are no longer the same thing.
That means the quality of your digital giving experience carries more weight than it ever has. The experience is not a convenience, but where the actual moment of generosity happens
The research also identified the top reasons donors abandon an online gift in progress. About 1 in 5 donors report walking away from a donation before completing it. The most common friction points are simple and fixable:
- No clear explanation of what the gift supports
- Vague fund names or too many similar categories
- Recurring giving not clearly presented
- Lack of visible security reassurance
- No clear confirmation after giving
Simplicity is the number one driver of a better donation experience, especially for Gen Z donors. Fewer steps, faster checkout, and a clear confirmation go a long way.
What this means for your church: 4 practical takeaways
1. Lead with clarity about impact
Donors who are cautious are not giving less because they care less. They are giving less because uncertainty makes them more selective. Every communication, including your giving page, should clearly connect a gift to a specific outcome. Not just “support our ministry” but what that actually looks like in people’s lives.
2. Audit your digital giving experience
If your giving page has not been reviewed recently, now is the time. Walk through it as a first-time giver would. Is it clear what you are giving to? Is recurring giving easy to find and set up? Is there a visible security indicator? Does a confirmation appear immediately after giving?
Small friction points that feel minor to your team can feel like significant barriers to a donor who is already on the fence.
If you need help auditing your giving page, SecureGive’s free Giving Page Checklist walks you through everything a strong giving page needs.
3. Meet people where they give
Different generations default to different giving methods. Offering multiple ways to give, online, mobile, text, and in-person options like a kiosk, is not about having more technology. It is about removing the barrier between the moment someone feels prompted to give and the moment they actually can.
The research found that 1 in 5 Gen Z donors have already given via text. Church-attending donors are also 25% more likely to respond to text giving than the general donor population. If text giving is not on your radar, it should be.
4. Build a culture of recurring giving
Recurring givers are your most resilient donors. They are the ones who keep giving when life gets complicated or uncertain. Making recurring giving the default option in your giving flow, and communicating its value to your congregation, is one of the highest-return investments a church can make in its generosity culture.
The research consistently shows that church-attending donors are likely to give more and give consistently when they feel connected to the mission. Recurring giving is how that connection becomes a habit.
5. Know where your generosity culture is headed
In an uncertain giving environment, reactive is the wrong posture. The churches that stay ahead of donor drift are the ones that can see it coming. Platforms like SecureGive give your admin team a clear view of which donors are becoming consistent, which are slowly pulling back, and which have gone quiet, so you can have the right conversations at the right time. Not with pressure, but with care and clarity.
That kind of visibility is not just a reporting function. It is a discipleship function. When you can see how generosity is developing across your congregation, you can lead it intentionally rather than simply hope for it.
The bottom line
Donor hesitation this year is real, but it is not the whole story. The churches that will weather this environment well are not necessarily the ones with the best fundraising tactics. They are the ones that take seriously how generosity is discipled, communicated, and made accessible.
Your systems should support the culture you are building, not create friction for it.
If you want to see how SecureGive helps churches understand their giving trends, reduce friction in the donation experience, and keep more donors engaged over time, visit securegive.com.
