Financial Decision-Making in the Church
How does the church decide how money is used
to assist those experiencing poverty?
Background
Religious organizations in the United States receive over $120 billion in donations, gifts and tithes each year. In fact, when Americans choose to give, they are more likely to give to a church or religious organization than to a charity that offers educational, health, international aid or environmental protection services. Though much of this giving is utilized to support daily church functions, many churches mobilize significant resource to support and facilitate social care initiatives: providing food, clothing, accommodation, medicine and other support to those experiencing financially difficult times.
As church leaders, it is our responsibility is to be simultaneously intelligent and compassionate stewards of the resources of the Church: Jesus declares that how we act towards the poorest in our communities is a direct expression of our heart towards God Himself (Matthew 25:40).
In this research, we are building a picture of how the Church mobilizes its resources to care for those in need. What is your philosophy towards social care? What affects your decision making? What are your priorities and goals?
If you are a church leader, with authorization to speak on behalf of your church, we would love to invite you to take part in this research. By taking part, you are adding your voice to potentially the largest-scale research of its kind ever to take place in this country.
This survey should take approximately 20 minutes, and covers key areas including:
Your church demographics, for analysis purposes.
Your views towards the church materially helping those experiencing poverty.
Your resources available for helping those experiencing poverty.
Your priorities when mobilizing finite resources.
Please remember the following important points:
You are taking part voluntarily with no expectation of payment or reward.
You may freely choose to end your participation at any time.
To ensure the validity of the results, you may be contacted to confirm your legitimate participation.
Research results will be anonymous, though useful statistical information (church size, staff allocation etc) may be used to inform findings.
Research results remain the property of the researchers and may be published publicly, including but not limited to web articles, academic journals, books and speaking forums.
Once all responses are gathered and analyzed, the researchers will identify and publicly release trends and gaps, so that the church as a whole can be better equipped and supported in this vital expression of the gospel.
Thank you in advance for providing your honest, open and insightful response.
Regards
The Research Team