Back in December I wrote a little bit about the recession and the effect that it might have on the World Mission Prayer League. At that time there was quite a lot of fear concerning the future. It was on November 28th that the National Bureau of Economic Research declared that the recession had started in December of 2007. We don’t officially know if the recession has ended yet. But even at that time there was some hopeful news regarding charitable giving trends in the United States. A study by Giving USA Foundation found that giving to religious non-profits decreased only slightly during past recessions. We also had reason to be hopeful here at the Prayer League, believing that our long-standing policies of non-indebtedness and commissioned living put us in a good position as we faced the recession – and, of course, our ultimate hope always rests in the promises of God.
Since then, the Giving USA Foundation has published its annual report on philanthropy for the year 2008, revealing that U.S. charitable donations decreased in 2008 for only the second time in 52 years. Individuals and corporations together still managed to give $307 billion in 2008, the second highest amount ever recorded; $314 billion was given in 2007. Roughly two-thirds of charitable organizations saw a decrease in donations in 2008, but contributions to religious organizations as a group did not decline.
For our part, we saw day-to-day giving increase 4.4 percent in 2008 as compared to 2007. Through the first eight months of 2009 giving is down 1.9 percent as compared to the first eight months of 2008. We have had the opportunity to practice commissioned living a little bit! On average, our missionaries have received 87.4 percent of their target allowances in 2009, slightly down from the previous year. Our policy of non-indebtedness has certainly been a blessing, as managing debt would have been particularly difficult in this economy. While many charitable organizations have been forced to reduce staff, we have continued with our normal policy of sending new missionaries as soon as they receive the call… trusting in and praying for God’s provision as they go.
I am encouraged to see that giving in the U.S. still remains incredibly generous. I believe that is because we have an incredibly generous God who has moved in the hearts of so many across the nation. Thank you for your partnership with this ministry!
Financial Update
In August the general fund was $40,241 short of the amount needed to pay full allowances. We used $19,383 from the estate fund to get the minimum balance up to 65 percent. Twelve missionary units received full allowance, 35 units received the minimum allowance, and three units fell somewhere in between.