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• 1 2020-11-08T23:42:16+00:00 Participation Challenges to Faith Based Philanthropy During COVID-19 11 image_header 2020-11-17T03:59:59+00:00 During the COVID-19 pandemic, faith-based philanthropy was also strongly affected by the lack of in-person giving due to new restrictions imposed to protect those from the spread of the virus. At the dawn of the pandemic, most places in the country went into lockdown, forcing many faith-based organizations to lose the in-person participation that allows them to thrive in normal times.
  
  Faith based groups, mostly based out of churches, have had to learn how to adapt and overcome these giving-related challenges as they look to continue to pursue their mission of helping others in need. The challenges present in the pandemic have also been met with some help from participants and the government:
   
  • 41% of congregations saw a decline in giving stemming from the pandemic alone
  • 52% of congregations reported an increase in participation from pre-existing members.
  • 65% of congregations reported receiving Payroll Protection Program loans. 
  
  Almost all in-person congregation services ceased to take place after March of 2020, when pandemic was established as a national health emergency and many quarantines went into effect. Along with this lack of ability to be in person, many people are losing their belief that churches will survive the pandemic. Throughout the global health crisis it has been commonplace to see many businesses and organizations crumble in the wake of the pandemic’s financial crisis.
  
  Some congregations have declined to follow COVID-19 procedures however, which has left them to be placed under large amounts of controversy since they are endangering the lives of their members. These actions are irresponsible and lead to another challenge for congregations as a whole. Since congregations are not following rules it leads the more responsible ones to be placed under the same scrutiny that those not following the rules are under. These churches now have to face enormous pressure from their communities and the media to abide by the new safety regulations in order to retain the support of the people.
  
  According to the prominent Christian research organization, Barna Group, people's belief in religious congregations surviving the pandemic has been declining:
   
  • 78% of people believed that religious congregations would be able to survive the pandemic
  • 58% of the same study group a few months later now believed that these groups would survive.
  
  Read more about the Barna Group here.
  
   This describes another factor that has plagued many congregations throughout the COVID-19 pandemic as along with this loss in faith has come a drop in the amount of people giving their money. Many of the people who used to donate regularly now believe that their money will be better donated elsewhere into organizations that will survive the coming months as the pandemic continues.
  
  Congregation leaders such as Jeff Smith, elder at the Cleveland-based Forrest Hills Presbyterian Church, have focused on altering the way they interact with their members. In this clip from an interview with him, he describes how his church has turned to online alternatives to help better meet the participatory needs of his organization: