Rabbi Julia Appel shares research about belonging and how different program areas impact a congregant’s sense of belonging.

Lake Institute’s Resource Library collects and curates a wide range of resources that can help deepen understanding and practice at the intersection of faith and giving.
Search by keywords or browse by themes to find current research, leadership insights, inspiring stories, discernment guides, theological reflection, and more.
The Faithful Generosity Story Shelf highlights congregations and other religious organizations who have sought to use their assets and resources in creative—and sometimes surprising—ways as an expression of faithful giving.
The Center for the Church and the Black Experience and Lake Institute on Faith & Giving were proud to co-host the 2025 Symposium on Philanthropy and the Black Church. Focused on faith communities in the Black Church, the event united leaders across sectors to build trust, foster strategic partnerships, and reimagine philanthropy through the lens of faith, legacy, and mutual respect.
Erica Dollhopf, Ph.D., Meredith McNabb, and Dr. Carlos Perkins explore the newest data on religious giving and share key insights from the Giving USA 2025 report.
Rabbi Julia Appel shares research about belonging and how different program areas impact a congregant’s sense of belonging.
Meredith McNabb describes in-kind donations and how they can be used to create meaningful connections with donors.
Dilnaz Waraich, President of WF Fund, discusses ways Muslim philanthropy helps her family pay forward the efforts of her immigrant ancestors.
Guest writer, Dr. Jorge Juan Rodriguez V, shares revelations from Latinx philanthropic tensions.
The Faithful Generosity Story Shelf highlights congregations and other religious organizations who have sought to use their assets and resources in creative ways as an expression of faithful giving.
Dr. Mona Siddiqui explored how art and human imagination compel us to seek different worlds and justices and how religious faith makes demands of us to give in multiple ways – giving may have its limits just like hospitality but our moral life is relational and only by being generous with our idea of community, do we cultivate a sense of civic life for everyone.
Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso reflects on the connection between art, religion, and philanthropy - particularly the unique way each calls us to pay attention to the world.
Lake Dissertation Fellow, Feyza Akova, discusses Sufism, self-transcendence, and social change and their connections to doing good in the world.
St. Paul’s United Methodist Church used their extra church building to support a nonprofit focused on one of the most urgent and challenging social problems in their community.
Struggling with the financial realities of a small and aging congregation, Altama Presbyterian Church sold their property at a reduced cost to a local nonprofit because its mission aligned with their own.
Insights is a bi-weekly e-newsletter for the religious community and fundraisers of faith-based organizations that provides: