Effective Christian Giving
It all begins with an idea.
Why give effectively
Our giving is a very practical way of putting into practice the principles of “going all in with our intelligence” — and being fruitful as well as faithful— outlined in our Understanding Impact article. Revisit this article for the Biblical rationale behind this.
Giving as triage
Triage is prioritising medical care of some above others in order to allocate limited resources effectively. The same concept applies to our giving. By giving to one brilliant charity, we are actively deciding not to give that money to another great charity. Without taking into account triage, the few are saved at the expense of the many. And these are life-or-death decisions. Our giving impacts people’s eternity with Jesus.
Recognising this sober reality should not paralyse us, but excite us. God has given you the opportunity to save even more lives with your resources, like the way a good triage doctor could save twice as many lives in a war zone.
The most effective ministries have 100 times the impact
Secular data shows that the most effective charities can have an impact 100 times greater than an average charity. This is also true of Christian ministry.
For example, research by the World Evangelization Research Center found that it takes over 700 times more money to see someone come to faith and be baptised in rich, reached countries like Switzerland than in poor, unreached countries like Nepal.
This is exciting as it enables us on modest incomes to punch far above our weight. If you’re on minimum wage and giving 20% to a highly effective charity, you’ll have the same impact as someone able to give £500,000 to an average charity.
How to give effectively
Pray
Without abiding in Christ, our giving is entirely ineffective; we’ll bear no fruit (John 15:5). In fact, God may lead many of us to give in seemingly ineffective ways, so we must listen to him above all else.
Local Church
Don’t neglect your local church, it’s Biblical to give there. “Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor” (Galatians 6:6).
Disciple-making is central
Disciple-making work cannot turn elsewhere for funding; there is no welfare state for souls – so we should give to organisations which prioritise disciple-making.
In Mark 2, Jesus first forgave the sins of the paralysed man, then healed him. This is a challenge for us, are we truly loving our neighbour if our giving isn’t focused on making disciples? Even a doctor is not truly a lifesaver, but a death postponer. That said, whilst disciple-making must be central, biblically, humanitarian work often comes alongside this. In Acts 6, despite the apostles’ focus on word ministry, they ensured the hungry were fed — showing that practical care should accompany, but not displace, the gospel.
Broaden our definition of “neighbour”
Remember, neighbours aren’t just those locally. In 1 Corinthians and Romans, Paul talks about gathering a collection for those 1,000km away in Jerusalem.
Focus on a cost-effective, evidence-based model
Carefully consider the model.
Does it appear cost-effective?
Does the model encourage self-sustaining growth or create dependency?
Don’t worry about overheads. High-impact charities often need strong infrastructure to stay focused on outcomes.
Seek evidence of outcomes. Is the ministry recording outcomes or just stories? Is there any third-party data to verify this?
Personal relationship
Build a relationship with those within the ministry, this supports them and helps motivate you into sustainable giving into the future.
Going on a “go and see” trip can be very helpful to understand what an overseas ministry is actually doing and build relationships with those on the ground.
The church itself is a diversified portfolio
The church’s giving is spread widely, like a diversified portfolio. Even if every reader shifted all their giving to the most cost-effective charities, the overall balance of Christian giving would only shift slightly. But for these few ministries, this extra support would be transformative, so it makes sense to give overwhelmingly to them, knowing others will not be left entirely unfunded.
One effective strategy:
There are many ways to give effectively. But we’ve found this strategy can be particularly effective.
Focus on the unreached
The unreached are where there are less than 1 in 100 people who are Christian, so most never hear the gospel. These make up over 1/3rd of the world’s population.
We could argue this should be where most of our money and missionaries are going – to spark movements of Christ there to make disciples of “all nations” (Matthew 28:19)
The great imbalance
Yet there is this great imbalance, just £1 in every £1,000 given by Christians and one missionary in every 100 goes to reach the 3.4 billion unreached.
Equip locals to reach locals
Money can go further overseas, especially when locals reach other locals with the gospel. These indigenous workers are often better at reaching their own. They’re not outsiders – they speak the language and understand the culture.
Furthermore, ministry with indigenous workers is often better value – the cost of sending out a Western missionary is about £50,000 per year, 70 times more than the cost of a local.
Case study: Bhojpuri church planting movements
Effective model where locals reach locals – Based on Luke 10:6, find a local person of peace, disciple them to make disciples, they make disciples who likewise make disciples and Christianity multiplies.
Focused on the unreached – The Bhojpuri people of North India had few Christians.
Multiplicative growth – From 28 churches in 1989 to 60,000 by 2008.
Enormous impact – Today, there are millions of Bhojpuri believers.
Other potentially cost-effective giving opportunities
These are some further examples of giving opportunities that may be especially cost-effective, but the details matter — a model that spreads weak theology can end up doing more harm than good.
Christian media – reaching millions through content including films, radio, or social media (e.g. The Jesus Film, Christian radio into closed countries, social media ministries like The Way).
Pioneering ministries – opening doors for future work, such as sending the first missionaries to a people group, or funding a completely new evangelism model (imagine backing Alpha 35 years ago).
Multiplicative models – enabling others to multiply impact:
Raising awareness of neglected issues, (e.g. Joshua Project sharing data on the unreached).
Raising up and equipping effective leaders (e.g. missionaries training indigenous pastors, ministries raising effective gospel workers).
Building movements (e.g. Missional Labs inspiring missional entrepreneurs).
Covering the operational costs of effective giving funds, so more people can give well.
Income-generating models – seed funding or loans that create sustainable or even profitable ministry, such as buying church property or investment into a new Christian school or publishing company.
Put it into practice
How will you ensure your giving is as effective as possible going forward?
If you had to choose just one ministry to give to for maximum gospel impact, which would it be and why?