Most church leaders in the United Kingdom dislike talking about the need to give money, according to a new survey on Christian giving. As a result, churchgoers are being given "an array of mixed messages" by ministers about the need to give.

According to the report "Why Christians Give – Understanding the hearts and minds of 21st century evangelical donors" churches risk losing out on large amounts of potential giving due to an unnecessary timidity when it comes to talking about financial needs and the importance of giving.

The report on Christian giving is based on a survey of 2,000 Evangelical Alliance members surveyed in August-September 2009. The full report was launched on June 22nd at the Evangelical Alliance (UK) in London. The research project was sponsored by Kingdom Bank, Trinity Wealth Management and David Potter Design.

Redina Kolaneci, Senior Consultant of McConkey ● Johnston international UK, author of the new research report, said: "Most Christian leaders seem to believe that that they are called to 'do mission' but do not consider that raising the money for this work is part of their remit. They tend to sweep money issues under the carpet and fail to preach inspiring sermons on the subject of generosity."

The same is true of Christian charities, with many relegating the task of raising funds to inadequately resourced, even inexperienced fundraisers or volunteers.

In spite of this apparent timidity, evangelicals remain an incredibly generous constituency. One in four donors from the survey, based on members of the Evangelical Alliance in the UK, stated that their giving has been impacted by the recession.

However, the average monthly amount donated by respondents is 11.5% of their household income of which 6.5% is given to local churches and another 5% to Christian charities.

"This is good news for churches and charities that are prepared to rethink the ways in which they do the asking," said Kolaneci. "Evangelicals are not a homogenous group; they have different priorities, different motivations for giving and different preferred ways of giving. Leaders and organisations need to abandon a one-size-fits-all model of fundraising to truly engage with them. For those that are prepared to make the effort, the rewards are still great."

Steve Clifford, General Director of the Evangelical Alliance, said: “Why Christians Give is a timely report. The church as we know it has changed. We can’t take it for granted that the principles of stewardship are widely applied across our diverse church expressions.

"I believe this report is geared to educate and inform Christian leaders on this issue in a positive way. I hope it will inspire us all to act as partners with God to resource His Kingdom."

McConkey ● Johnston international UK is a Christian consulting group that helps churches and charities to become more effective in the areas of fundraising, marketing and communications.