Honoring Givers

The “Pray, Give, Go” framework is a familiar one for engaging ministry teams and faithful supporters in Kingdom missions. And right now, as the end of the year approaches, “Give” is likely high on the minds of many organizations and donors.

Now, the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) aims to help with every part of praying, giving, and going. Our ECFA team is regularly praying for accredited member organizations, and we have a wealth of resources to help equip members with best practices for ministry integrity at home and abroad as they both go and help others go.

But as we focus on giving, especially over the next couple of months, know that ECFA is here to help you honor those who prayerfully and financially support your mission.

Below are ten trust-enhancing principles ECFA included in a “Giver’s Bill of Rights” that we believe will encourage supporters to feel confident when they give to churches and ministries:

1. Givers can readily review a church or ministry’s mission and statement of faith.
2. Givers can reasonably be expected to have an accurate understanding of what a gift to the organization will accomplish.
3. Givers may restrict or designate gifts to particular projects as defined and allowed by the organization within its mission objectives.
4. Givers have the opportunity to give cheerfully without pressure from the organization or its representatives.
5. Givers’ best interests and future well-being will be highly valued by the organization and its representatives when considering potential donations from those givers.
6. Givers will receive appropriate and timely gift acknowledgments.
7. Givers will receive timely and courteous responses to inquiries about finances and programs.
8. Givers will be provided a copy of the organization’s most recent annual financial statements in a timely manner upon request.
9. Givers may be granted reasonable and prudent requests to visit the office and project sites of an organization to talk personally with staff representatives.
10. Givers can be confident that the organization is working to ensure its resources are being utilized in accordance with applicable laws and regulations, including biblical mandates, by exercising appropriate management and controls.

If you’re interested in diving deeper into other educational resources ECFA offers on matters like governance, leadership, and charitable giving, please find more at ECFA.org. You may especially be interested in ECFA’s 4 Essentials for Integrity in Fundraising Appeals eBook

Also, we hope to see you online at 1:00pm ET on Giving Tuesday (December 1) for the release of our latest insights about giving trends captured in our 2026 State of Giving Report.

May the Lord bless you and your ministry’s supporters as you pursue your Kingdom mission in this season and beyond!