Evangelicals overwhelmingly say they prefer to support Christian non-profits with their charitable gifts after they support their local church – but when asked what their number-one charity is, more than half name an entirely secular organization.
While 84% of evangelicals say they prefer to support Christian organizations after giving to their home churches, less than half (46%) actually have a favorite organization that is faith-based. That’s according to a recently published study from Grey Matter Research and Infinity Concepts.
Grey Matter’s Ron Sellers says evangelicals’ preferences apparently are a lot like the world’s. “Evangelical donors, of their 19 most commonly favored individual organizations, 12 are also the favorites of American donors in general,” he reports to AFN.
The two donor groups share in common four of their top five charities, with Samaritan’s Purse on the evangelical list replacing the American Cancer Society on America’s list. The four charities they have in common (three of which are secular) are: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital – #1 on both lists – the Salvation Army, The American Red Cross, and UNICEF.
Sellers explains that part of the reason secular charities receive financial support from faith-based donors is that there are no Christian alternatives serving the concerns of some evangelicals.
“[For example], I’m not familiar with any large cancer-oriented, cancer research-oriented evangelical organization; or any large ‘humane society’ that’s specifically Christian,” says Sellers.
And while he points out there’s nothing wrong with saving puppies or working toward a cure for cancer, Sellers suggests the study indicates evangelicals aren’t being as discerning when it comes to other causes.
“It’s a little bit disappointing, quite honestly, to see evangelicals naming organizations that are involved in disaster relief, that sponsored children, that are involved in literacy or education that are entirely secular, when there are very good and well-known Christian equivalents that they could be supporting,” he concludes.
Another finding of the Grey Matter Research study: when choosing their favorite charity or ministry to support financially, evangelicals usually prioritize massive brands over small organizations.
Faith-based relief charities that AFN has reported on include not only Samaritan’s Purse, but also Joni & Friends, Eight Days of Hope, Slavic Gospel Association, and Convoy of Hope. Other noteworthy ministries featured in recent AFN stories include Prison Fellowship International, GFA World, Global Outreach International, ChinaAid, Live Beyond, MegaVoice International, Faith Comes by Hearing, International Christian Concern, and Voice of the Martyrs.
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Copyright American Family News. Reprinted with permission.
Yes, absolutely. I give to Christian organizations. I recommend your own church and next after that Samaritan’s Purse. They have a hospital just over the border from Ukraine in Poland. They help in weather related emergencies in the US and around the world. Convoy of Hope is another excellent Christian charity.
Locally there is a Christian group that helps the low income with needs. I give to them instead of Care and Share which is secular.
All Christians need to recite ‘forgive us our debts and Deliver us from Evil” when giving to charities, because often out of the best intentions their charity is often used to cover a multitude of sins like a blanket which just gets in God’s way of correction.
“God whispers to us in our pleasures, he speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains.” ― C.S. Lewis
Pain is often God’s megaphone to get our attention and get us to come back to him and back to the right path as we were designed. When misguided do-gooders throw their money at people problems, and even worse when it is YOUR money the government throws at the problem, it just acts like a narcotic to ease the pain in the short term, most often short enough for some criminal political to steal an election, but in the long term just ends up giving the misguided in pain no real reason to change which lives on. To do it on other people’s borrowed money or life force just creates more social victims of the givers themselves and co-conspirators of their crimes. Make abortion painless and easy, and you definitely are getting in the way of a creation and your Creator.
EVERYONE needs to be more discerning on what charities they give to.. Not just evangelicals..