How churches collect offerings at worship services
Percent of U.S. Protestant pastors saying their church uses each method, 2025 (in percent)
Key finding
Highest: Pass plates or baskets during the service (64%). Lowest: Another means (2%).
- Pass plates or baskets during the service: 64%
- Collection boxes: 40%
- Hold plates or baskets at the doors as people leave: 15%
Source: Lifeway Research, Most Churches Still Pass the Offering Plate · Phone survey of 1,003 Protestant pastors; 95% confidence, sampling error no more than plus or minus 3.3%. Article published 2025-07-08.
See all 5 categories, the full chart and more
Free account: full chart, CSV and PNG downloads, ready-to-paste citation, branded share image, and a discussion question for your team.
Questions about this statistic
What does this statistic show?
Highest: Pass plates or baskets during the service (64%). Lowest: Another means (2%). Pass plates or baskets during the service: 64%. Collection boxes: 40%. Hold plates or baskets at the doors as people leave: 15%.
Who published this data?
Lifeway Research, 2025. Source: Lifeway Research, Most Churches Still Pass the Offering Plate (https://research.lifeway.com/2025/07/08/most-churches-still-pass-the-offering-plate/).
Where can I get the full data and a citation?
Create a free Leader Insights account to open the full chart, download CSV or PNG, copy a citation and save the statistic to your own library.
More Giving statistics
- Americans who donate to charity or church, by Bible engagement American Bible Society, 2025
- Church giving compared with last year Lifeway Research, 2025
- Congregations' income compared with expenses Lifeway Research, 2025
- Giving compared with what churches budgeted Lifeway Research, 2025
- Giving to religion in 2024 Giving USA 2025, 2025
- How churchgoers give to their churches Lifeway Research, 2025
About this data
Leader Insights collects statistics about U.S. churches from published research by organizations such as Lifeway Research, Barna Group, Springtide, the American Bible Society and PRRI. Every number is checked against the wording of the original source before it is published, and each statistic links back to the study it came from. Figures are reproduced from the publishers named above; see the source for full methodology.