National Study of Congregations' Economic Practices

The National Study of Congregations’ Economic Practices (NSCEP) is the most comprehensive, in-depth, and rigorous study of how congregations receive, manage and spend their financial resources.

national study of congregations' economic practices: receive, manage, spend

The National Study of Congregations’ Economic Practices (NSCEP) is the most comprehensive, in-depth, and rigorous study of how congregations receive, manage and spend their financial resources.

Across a nationally representative sample of congregations, we have helped to explore these key questions:

Receive: Who gives to congregations, when, and how?
Manage: How do congregations teach about money and finances, and how do they steward the gifts they receive?
Spend: How do congregations utilize their financial resources to serve their members, community, and beyond?

Giving to religion, which is predominantly congregational giving, is the largest U.S. charitable subsector (27%). That’s almost double the next largest subsector, yet we know too little about it. How congregations receive, manage, and spend resources are issues that religious leaders are eager to discuss but often lack comprehensive information to fully grasp the current landscape. With changes in the ways in which Americans are affiliating with religious traditions, joining congregations, and attending religious services as well as the evolving ways in which religious Americans give and the role that congregations play in our life together, it is vital for us to understand these trends more deeply.

Lake Institute on Faith & Giving, embedded in the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, has been focused here for over two decades on these questions with a reputation for research, education, and public conversation on exactly these topics.

Wave I

Seeing this need, in 2018, we fielded the largest, in depth study survey on congregations’ economic practices. Over 1,200 congregations of all religious traditions, sizes, and geographic locations participated, and the findings from that study has helped thousands of congregations, religious leaders, and scholars better understand the financial state of congregations and their impact in their communities You can access those findings through our executive report. We learned then that more congregations were growing than shrinking in terms of size and revenue, but the numbers were almost equally distributed. But much has changed since 2018…

Wave II

With all that has changed and the need for clear and comprehensive information for religious leaders, we are preparing to conduct a second wave of NSCEP. And we are returning to the same 1,200 congregations six years later.

In 2025, we are reaching back out to these congregations’ leaders in hopes of their ongoing help in sharing data will allow us to share the best picture possible of what is going on with U.S. congregations and their economic practices. In addition to the numbers, we are also attending to how congregations regard financial resources: their theological, cultural, and practical orientations toward money relate to finances and economic practices. If you are one of our partner congregations, we are looking forward to learning from you.