SINCE finishing university recently, I find that my conversations with friends have been dominated by discussions about the future. Burdened by the current state of the economy and the jobs market, many of them regard the outlook as dreary.
It is surprising, therefore, to discover that young people have been identified as the most generous generation by the organisation Stewardship UK: the 18-24s make the highest average monthly contribution, across all age groups, to their local church, its Generosity Report 2025 says (News 28 February). For a generation that is emerging into a flailing economy and facing a future that is far from financially secure, such generosity seems, to put it cynically, extravagant to the point of reckless.
Beyond the Church, Generation Z is politically engaged. Research commissioned by the communications firm Edelman suggests that 70 per cent of them actively support social or political causes. Social justice is heavily connected with the Generation Z experience, a fact that is reiterated as I chat to friends about their own charitable donations. A friend who is a climate activist said that, in an age of consumerism, “voting with her pounds” and carefully selecting where her money was spent — from shopping to donating to charity — was a small way in which she could enact change in the world.
Having grown up amid economic crises, many of my friends are also more keenly aware of the value of money. It is a scarce and precious resource, which means that charities need it more than ever. But perhaps my generation is also charitable because we have grown up in an overly consumerist world. Throwing money at problems is all that we have known and, in the world of activism, all that we have seen work.
But, while 84 per cent of Generation Z surveyed by the Blackbaud Institute said that they supported charities in some way, there is a significant difference in financial giving between young people with faith and those without. The Charities Aid Foundation found that a much smaller proportion of the 16-to-24s whom it surveyed gave to charity. It also found that the proportion of donors, across age groups, had been decreasing. This makes it all the more remarkable that young people — specifically those of faith — seem to be picking up the slack.
MANY Christian friends have told me of charitable habits being encouraged from an early age. Tithing has given many of them a clear target of how much to give away. Perhaps it is no surprise that Christians give more; encouraged by the biblical emphasis on generosity and Jesus’s command to give freely as you have received (Matthew 10.8), many of the young people who are getting serious about faith are also getting serious about giving.
But, while young Christians are accustomed to tithing, many friends said that they gave more to charities than to churches. “Charities are very good at showing you exactly what your donations go towards,” one friend explained. Having grown up in and around churches, she still felt that Christian charities provided more transparency than individual churches. Wider research by Blackbaud suggests that most of Generation Z are motivated to give more if organisations provide impact reports to update them on where their money is going and what it is doing.
The summer season of Christian festivals demonstrates this: charities such as Tearfund and International Justice Mission have put considerable energy into engaging young people at Christian festivals, providing many of my friends with their first experience of charitable giving. They clearly signpost what donations go to, and engage youth groups in reaching fund-raising targets.
SO, CHURCHES wishing to tap into young people’s generosity would do well to learn from charities, which show donors where their money is going and, more importantly, what it is going to do.
Parish churches are, of course, different from charities. There are complexities about parish share, for example, which make it harder to explain exactly where money goes and how it makes a difference. Dioceses could step in here, using their resources to communicate more about the difference that the parish share makes, particularly in less affluent areas. Any efforts to connect how money is being used to make a difference will inspire more young people to give.
Another point that stands out in conversations with my Christian friends is the adoption of a more holistic view of generosity: charity is not only about donating money, but also about offering time and resources. Paying for a friend’s coffee, or having people round for dinner, is not traditionally counted in reports on charitable giving, but such things are mentioned by many friends.
Such intangible expressions of generosity might not help parishes that are looking to balance the books, but they are important, nevertheless — and thriving community is likely to attract to church increasingly generous young people, ready to give their time, talents, and, yes, money.
Abigail King is a freelance journalist based in Edinburgh and London.
