Faith and aid
Automatic translation.
Many aid organisations were founded by a church, a religious community or a shared faith, and some are among the largest in the world. This page shows how many we have verified for each denomination, how large they are and how much public funding they receive. The religious affiliation is information, not a judgement. The Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and NGOs in Disaster Relief, which is voluntary, states that aid must not be used to further a particular political or religious standpoint.
By denomination
| Denomination | Organisations | Emanation | Inspiration | Income (latest accounts) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian | 51 | 9 | 42 | €2.4B |
| Catholic | 41 | 32 | 9 | €1.1B |
| Islamic | 29 | 1 | 28 | €916.3M |
| Evangelical | 35 | 6 | 29 | €677M |
| Jewish | 6 | 0 | 6 | €531.3M |
| Salvation army | 3 | 3 | 0 | €510.6M |
| Ecumenical christian | 8 | 5 | 3 | €384.6M |
| Lutheran | 6 | 6 | 0 | €226.6M |
| Adventist | 10 | 9 | 1 | €149.3M |
| Latter-day saints | 1 | 1 | 0 | €89.5M |
| Mennonite | 4 | 3 | 1 | €77.7M |
| Orthodox | 3 | 3 | 0 | €37.9M |
| Anglican | 7 | 6 | 1 | €28.7M |
| Reformed | 3 | 3 | 0 | €21.9M |
| Baptist | 4 | 3 | 1 | €19.3M |
| Sikh | 1 | 0 | 1 | €3.9M |
| Methodist | 1 | 1 | 0 | €3.3M |
| Buddhist | 1 | 0 | 1 | €203,261 |
“Emanation”: founded or governed by a religious institution. “Inspiration”: draws on a faith but remains independent. 40 organisations have no accounts in our sources: their income is not in the total. This is not a census: see the method.
The largest
Public funding
| Year | To faith-based organisations | To all organisations in the atlas | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | €977.7M | €5.6B | 17% |
| 2023 | €1B | €6.2B | 17% |
| 2024 | €977.4M | €6.6B | 15% |
| 2025 | €920.2M | €5B | 18% |
| Organisation | Denomination | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catholic Relief Services | Catholic | €512.3M | €522.6M |
| Cordaid | Catholic | €119.2M | €99.6M |
| DanChurchAid | Lutheran | €47.6M | €42.8M |
| World Vision International | Christian | €12M | €37.1M |
| Trócaire | Catholic | €31.6M | €35.5M |
| Interchurch Medical Assistance Inc | ecumenical Christian | €77.8M | €29.2M |
| Adventist Development And Relief Agency International | Adventist | €42.2M | €22.2M |
| World Vision Australia | Christian | €19.5M | €19.2M |
| ADRA Denmark | Adventist | €8M | €11.3M |
| Center for Church-Based Development | ecumenical Christian | €10.4M | €9.1M |
Payments by government agencies on IATI, in euros: a minimum estimate, as many donors do not name all recipients.
Sources and method
- Religious affiliation: verified by hand, organisation by organisation, using the criteria in the Methodology. We distinguish between those that are an offshoot of a religious institution and those that are inspired by one while remaining independent.
- Not a census: we count only the organisations in the atlas that we have verified, and the atlas depends on the registers available. For this reason the numbers do not tell how many organisations of a given faith exist in the world, nor do they allow the weight of different religions to be compared. Some large organisations are not included or have no budget in our sources, such as Samaritan's Purse of the United States, which is not in the atlas.
- Income: the latest available budget of each organisation, from a register or self-declared, in euros at the average exchange rate for that year. The years may differ, and members of the same family are added together even where they pass funds between themselves.
- Public funds: payments from government agencies on IATI, as in the rest of the atlas. Many donors do not disclose all their recipients, so the totals are a minimum estimate.