Who funds religion
$22.3B reached 42,771 religion organizations across the 2022 and 2023 filings. The money concentrates: the few largest organizations draw a heavy share of it.
The short version
- $22.3B in tracked US grants reached 42,771 religion organizations across the FY2022 and FY2023 IRS filings.
- The single largest recipient, Whitney Ward The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, drew $977M, 4% of all tracked religion funding.
- The most committed funder is Illuminations Foundation Inc, which gives 22.6× the national rate, with 99% of its grants going to religion.
- Most religion money lands on organizations in New York, 5% of the tracked total.
Funders most focused on religion
Not the biggest checks, the most committed. Each funder's share of giving to religion, against the national rate, shrunk toward that rate so a small specialist needs real volume to rank. The multiple is how many times the national rate it gives.
Organizations that draw the most
The religion organizations receiving the most grant money, sized by dollars. Pick one to see who funds it.
Where the money lands
The states whose organizations draw the most religion money.
Largest funders of religion
Funders by organization size
Who funds religion organizations at each size, with the funders most focused on them. Useful if you are small and the big-institution funders are not a fit.
Questions and answers
- What counts as religion in this data?
- Each organization is grouped by its NTEE code in the IRS Business Master File, the recipient's own cause classification. Religion covers every organization the IRS places in that major group, and grants are counted by where the money lands.
- What is the difference between the largest and the most committed funders of religion?
- The largest by dollars are Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc and Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, but they spread money across many causes. The most committed concentrate on religion: Illuminations Foundation Inc gives 22.6× the national rate, with 99% of its grants going there.
- How can a religion nonprofit find funders?
- Look beyond the biggest names to the specialists, the funders giving religion an outsized share of their budget, and to the states where religion money concentrates, led by New York. Both are listed on this page.
- How recent is this religion funding data?
- It is read from IRS Form 990 and 990-PF e-file filings for fiscal years 2022 and 2023, the two years with complete coverage. US charity filings lag 12 to 24 months.
More from the funding graph
Cause is the organization's NTEE classification in the IRS Business Master File. Grant figures are read from IRS Form 990 and 990-PF e-file XML for fiscal years 2022 and 2023, among recipients resolved by EIN. Source: IRS Form 990 downloads.