Church Financial Health Check: Free 15-Minute Assessment

Most church finance teams can tell you exactly what was spent last month. Far fewer can tell you how many households gave.

That gap matters. Budgets, financial reports and year-end reviews all start from the giving total. But the total is a lagging indicator. By the time it drops, the decline underneath it has usually been building for two or three years.

The Generosity Health Check is a 15-minute self-assessment for the part of church finances most teams can't see clearly: how giving actually works at your church. Score 20 statements, and you'll see where you're strong, where you're exposed and which area to fix first.

Take it together. The check works best when your pastor, your church administrator and whoever runs your giving reports sit down and score it as a team.

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Good church financial management starts with giving

Most advice on church finances focuses on budgeting, bookkeeping and internal controls. Those matter. But every one of them depends on income your team may not fully understand.

Tithely's 2026 church generosity report, The Generosity Gap, looked at a full year of giving across approximately 53,000 churches. A few findings stand out for anyone responsible for a church budget:

• A small group carries the load. The largest 17% of gifts carry 64% of all dollars.
• Sunday is the participation day, not the dollar day. Sunday brings in 39% of gifts but only 28% of dollars.
• Giving happens on a phone. 81% of visits to giving forms come from a mobile device.

None of these show up in a monthly giving total. That's why a church can look financially healthy right up until it isn't.

Strong church finances need a clear view of giving, not just the total. If you want the wider picture, start with our church giving statistics for 2026 and these church budgeting tips.

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Who should be in the room

No single person at most churches can answer all 20 statements. That's the point. Each role sees a different part of the picture:

• The pastor knows how giving is presented: the ask, the Sunday giving moment and how results are shared with the congregation.
• The church administrator knows the giving experience: how the giving page works, what happens when a recurring gift fails and who follows up.
• The treasurer or finance committee knows the numbers and the paperwork: giving reports, the church's EIN and whether a gift acceptance policy exists.

If your church has a finance committee, use the Health Check as the agenda for your next meeting. Score it together in 15 minutes, then spend 30 minutes on what the results tell you.

Before you start: have last year's giving reports open. Several statements ask for numbers you'll want to check rather than guess.

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How the Generosity Health Check works

The Health Check has 20 statements across five areas of church giving. Score each one:

• 2 if it's true today
• 1 if it's partly true
• 0 if it's not true, or if you don't know

That last rule is important. If you can't answer a statement, score it 0. If you can't answer it, you aren't managing it.

Your total, your band and your lowest-scoring section all update as you go. Your individual answers aren't saved, so score honestly.

One more thing before you begin: most churches score lowest on Section 1. Those questions ask for data that standard church reporting doesn't surface. A low score there isn't a failure. It's the most useful thing the check will tell you.

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What your score means for your church finances

Your band tells you where you stand overall. Your lowest section tells you what to do next. Of the two, the lowest section matters more.

A few ways to put your score to work:

• Report it like a financial metric. Share your total and your section scores with your board or finance committee alongside your monthly statements.
• Focus on one section. A church scoring 26 with one weak section has a clearer next step than a church scoring 30 with every section at 6.
• Score it again every quarter. Your financial statements tell you what already happened. The Health Check gives you an early signal of what's coming.

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The five areas of church giving health

Each section of the Health Check covers one part of how giving works. Here's why each one matters to your church finances, and one thing you can do about it this month.

1. Participation and concentration

Your giving total can hold steady while fewer households give. When that happens, a smaller group is carrying more of the budget, and the risk grows quietly.

That's a concentration problem, and it's common. Across Tithely churches, the largest 17% of gifts carry 64% of all dollars.

This month: pull a count of households that gave at least once in the last 12 months, and compare it to the year before. Put that number in front of your board next to the dollar total. A giving dashboard makes this a report you run, not a project you schedule.

2. The giving experience

81% of visits to giving forms happen on a phone, and 54% happen on Sunday morning. If your giving page is slow, asks for a login or breaks on cellular data, you lose gifts at the exact moment people are ready to give.

This month: hand a phone to someone who has never given at your church. Time how long a first gift takes. If it's longer than 90 seconds, or it requires creating an account first, that's your fix. See how Tithely online giving simplifies the giving process.

3. Recurring giving

Recurring gifts make up about a third of giving dollars, and they're the steadiest part of a church's income. During the summer, one-time giving dips about 5% below an average month while recurring giving holds slightly above it. For a finance team, that steadiness makes cash flow easier to forecast.

This month: name recurring giving in the ask instead of leaving people to find it. Then check that someone owns follow-up on failed or expired recurring gifts each month.

For sample scripts and a 30-day rollout plan, see 6 proven ways to increase recurring giving in your church.

4. Timing and communication

Giving follows the calendar. Friday is the second-biggest giving day of the week. The 1st and 15th of the month together bring in 13% of monthly dollars. December brings in nearly 12% of the year's giving, about 42% more than an average month.

This month: move your giving reminders to late in the week, near common paydays. Start a December plan now that goes beyond a single year-end email.

There's also a new reason to talk about giving: starting in 2026, people who don't itemize can deduct up to $1,000 in cash gifts to charity ($2,000 for married couples filing jointly). Many of your members don't know this yet. Encourage them to ask their tax advisor how it applies to them.

5. Non-cash readiness

The largest gifts a church receives often aren't cash. They're appreciated stock, grants from donor-advised funds or gifts planned through a financial advisor. If your church can't receive them cleanly, those gifts go somewhere else.

This section belongs to the finance committee.

This month: make sure your church's legal name and EIN are easy for an advisor to find. Confirm you have a process for receiving stock and DAF grants. If you don't have a board-approved gift acceptance policy, put it on the next agenda.

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Fix your lowest section first

It's tempting to work on everything at once. Don't. Pick your lowest-scoring section and give it 30 days.

If you're not sure where to start, these three moves from The Generosity Gap address most of what scores 0 on the Health Check:

1. Make recurring giving easy to choose. Speak about it directly, and encourage first-time givers to choose recurring giving with their first donation.
2. Time the ask to payday. Send giving communication late in the week, near the 1st and 15th.
3. Test your own giving flow on a phone. Do it on cellular data, as a first-time giver, with a timer running.

All three are decisions, not projects. Most churches can make them in a single staff meeting.

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Get the full report

Your score shows where. The full report shows why.

Every statement in the Health Check traces back to a finding in The Generosity Gap, Tithely's 2026 church generosity report. It's built on a full year of giving data from approximately 53,000 churches, alongside national research on charitable giving.

Get the full report

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Frequently asked questions about church finances and giving

How do you manage church finances well?

Good church financial management combines a realistic budget, clear bookkeeping, internal controls and a clear view of income. Most churches have the first three. The fourth, understanding how and when people give, is where many teams have the least information. A regular review like the Generosity Health Check helps close that gap.

What does a church finance committee do?

A church finance committee typically oversees the budget, reviews financial statements, sets policies such as gift acceptance and makes sure giving is handled with accountability. It's also well placed to track giving health over time, not just giving totals.

How do you measure a church's financial health?

Look beyond the total. Track how many households give, how concentrated giving is among your top givers, what share of giving is recurring and whether you can receive non-cash gifts. Those signals usually change before the total does.

What percentage of church giving should be recurring?

There's no single right number, but recurring giving makes up about a third of giving dollars across Tithely churches. More important than the share is knowing your own number and whether it's growing.

Is my Health Check score saved or shared?

Your individual answers aren't saved or shared. The Health Check runs in your browser, and clearing the page resets your score.

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