The Stewardship Generosity Report 2026

About the research:
Stewardship commissioned specialist research firm Whitestone Insight again to conduct the research for their third Generosity Report, which explores Christian giving in the UK based on a sample size of just over 6,000. Qualitative data was based on in-depth interviews with 15 Committed Christians selected from the data sample.

Stewardship’s Generosity Report 2026 reviews the gap between current and potential levels of Christian generosity and examines the data to provide comprehensive insights into the impact of faith on generosity and the factors influencing giving behaviour. This year’s report presents eight key findings that are grouped under three headings: ‘Trust and generosity’, ‘Giving habits’ and ‘The future of giving’. It also includes recommendations and links to resources that are designed to help church and charity leaders and Christian workers put the findings into practice.

Link between regular Christian practice and increased generosity

The link between regular Christian practice and increased generosity is clearly seen again in this year’s report.

• Committed Christians, who attend church and read the Bible at least once a week, give an average of £326 a month, equating to over 10% of their income. This is £254 or four and a half times more than the £72 per month given by UK citizens to all charities according to the Charities Aid Foundation Giving Report 2025 [see note 4]
• The average monthly giving for all Christians has decreased slightly since last year’s findings to £116, which is still £44 or one and a half times more than the £72 national average. This equates to 4.7% of their monthly income.

If all Christians followed the biblical principle of tithing, which in the report is defined as donating 10% of income after tax, average giving would more than double to £245, which in turn would have a significant impact on the work of churches and charities across the UK. A key aim of the report is to help leaders in the sector close this ‘giving gap’ by helping them to use the insights from the findings to invite and grow generosity.

A clear correlation between trust and generosity

Trust is a dominant theme in this year’s report with the data pointing to a clear correlation between trust in local church and an increase in generosity - those who trust their church ‘a lot’ make up 74% of givers to all causes and 75% of those giving to Christian causes. When looking at donations to church specifically, almost 90% of those who trust their church ‘a lot’ give to that church, with 61% doing so regularly. In terms of building this trust, teaching on generosity stands out as key – 77% of those who trust their church ‘a lot’ have received such teaching in the last year. The positive correlation between those who have heard teaching in the past year and those who trust ‘a lot’ is also true for other cause areas: 76% of those who trust Christian charities, 81% of those who trust Christian workers and 72% of those who trust secular causes.

Five giving personas

For the first time this year, the report introduces five giving personas, exploring what drives and hinders their generosity and suggesting opportunities for engagement. One of these is the younger giver, who is the most generous - Committed Christians in the 18-34 group give the highest proportion of their income at 11%. Moreover, 40% of all Christians in this age group also expect to give more in the next year, which drops to 5% for the 55-64 age group.

18-34s are also the most enthusiastic for regular teaching on generosity with 46% saying they would like their church to teach on the topic at least monthly. This rises to 60% for the Committed Christians in this group. By contrast, only 8% of all Christians in the 55-64 bracket said they want regular teaching.

“Stewardship’s Generosity Report 2026 explores the vital role of trust in generosity revealing how and why Christians are giving and where trust can be rebuilt or strengthened. It is also exciting to get a more detailed look at the emerging generation of younger Christians who are hungry for faith and are driven by it to be the most generous. We hope that you will be both encouraged by the steadfast generosity evident across God’s people and challenged to consider how we can all play our part to model the kind of integrity that invites trust and releases generosity in others.” Janie Oliver, CEO, Stewardship

Notes to the research:

1. Stewardship serves Christian donors, workers, charities and churches in the UK and beyond called to faithfully steward their resources for God’s glory. 2026 marks 120 years of the Christian charity working with generous Christians and the ministries they support. It now helps over 30,000 donors discover the joy of generosity as they give around £110 million every year to over 12,000 churches, charities and Christian workers. It also offers a range of professional services aimed to equip, grow and strengthen those ministries so they can create increasing impact for God’s Kingdom.
2. Whitestone Insight is a specialist research firm created to assist clients with public policy, marketing and communications. Our ethos is to be responsive to clients, imaginative in our approach and enthusiastic about working with those that share our desire to promote the common good.
3. About the research: 6,004 UK Christian adults were surveyed online from 8-17 July 2025.The data was weighted to be representative of religious identification data from the 2021 Censuses in England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. The qualitative data was gathered from 15 in-depth one-to-one video interviews with Committed Christians representing a range of denominations and other demographics and spread across the different giving personas.
4. The average giving amount was calculated by asking survey participants how much they give to a variety of causes. This figure is the sum of the mean average donation from all Christians to each cause, including those who do not give. For the comparative data from the Charities Aid Foundation, see the Charities Aid Foundation UK Giving Report 2025.
5. Committed Christians are defined in the report as those who attend church and read the Bible at least once a week.