How Do We Give?

We give to many causes in our life — to charities, to individuals and to the Church. We give our time and we give our money. How we give, or how much we give, reveals a great deal about what is important to us.  We tend to give the most to the causes that are most important to us.

 

Average annual giving in 2007 for St Mary’s Parish was $1,660, up from $1,544 in 2006. This figure includes pledged and non-pledged giving. This amount compares to an average pledge in 2006 of $2,087 for the entire Episcopal Church and an average giving of $1,836 for Episcopal Churches in Maryland. The chart below summarizes the giving for St Mary’s Parish from 2005—2007. In 2007, 15 families (12% of givers) contributed half of the overall funds received, and a total of 43 families (38% of givers) gave 80% of the overall  giving.

 

When we compare giving by families and individuals that pledge to families and individuals that do not, we can see that those who go through a  process of prayer, discernment and pledging most often give at higher levels.

Pledged giving, in particular, represents a prayerful decision to support all of the parish’s ministries. The two charts below show the breakdown in giving for those that pledge and those that give without submitting a pledge.