Stewardship’s 2023 Annual Report reflects sustained growth in giving

Christian generosity with Stewardship continued to grow in 2023, with a 12% increase in grants made.

The rate at which grants are being paid out to our church, charity and individual partners is up by 7% to a record 60%, almost two and a half times the UK average for DAFs. Total donations were up 2% since 2022, when giving jumped by 10% despite the cost-of-living crisis. 

A key contributor to the rise in grants out has been the growing popularity of our pioneering Donor Advisory Board service, which contributed £6m to the total grants out. This is a testament to the powerful support offered by a Donor Advisory Board, which works with the DAF model to allow trusted third parties to support donors in their grant-making decisions, but without the legal duties of trusteeship.

Further highlights from our 2023 Annual Report:

• Grants out to our church, charity and individual partners increased by 12% from £98m in 2022 to £110m in 2023
• 19 new loans worth £10m were made to our partners in 2023, bringing the total value of the loan book at 31 December 2023 to £29m (excluding loans by clients via nominated investment options)
• The Accounts Examination Service grew by 11% to a total of 458 clients
• The Payroll Bureau service grew by 9% to a total of 849 clients
• We helped to set up 62 new charities
• Total assets increased by 5% from £199m in 2022 to £208.2m in 2023

Highlights from our strategic partnerships in 2023 include Stewardship being the giving platform for Essential Christian’s Spring Harvest festival for the second year running. The total amount of funds received grew by 40% to £229k, of which £187k was given using our platform. We also continued to partner with Warm Welcome, which we helped The Good Faith Partnership to launch in 2022 as a practical response to the worst cost-of-living crisis in 70 years. It has now grown in collaboration with over 50 partners and 7,000 Warm Welcome Spaces to provide warmth and companionship to over half a million people.

As part of our commitment to prioritise investments which align with our Christian values, we made £10m of additional investments in Christian organisations and social impact initiatives that are aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals during the year, which increased the total allocation in these areas by 4% to 26% of total assets. 

The report also notes the launch of our inaugural Generosity Report in June this year which was based on an extensive giving survey in 2023 of the state of Christian giving in the UK. We commissioned Whitestone Insight to conduct this initial research which we now plan to run on an annual basis. 

"In the context of a difficult year for many, we were once again humbled by the generosity of those we serve. We were delighted not only that grants out grew by 12% to £110m, but also that, for the first time in our history, we facilitated grants exceeding £100m. Our excellent grant payout rate is a powerful reflection of the active generosity that we are privileged to support.

With a strong, motivated team in place that is fully aligned behind a refreshed strategy, we look forward to continuing to grow and develop our offering for donors, churches, charities, and Christian workers, helping Christians steward their resources wisely and generously." Janie Oliver, CEO, Stewardship

Read our 2023 Annual Report 

You can read our 2023 Annual Report as an interactive digital publication or you can download it as a pdf.

View our 2023 Annual Report

Watch the highlights

Hear from our CEO, Janie Oliver, as she shares some of the highlights from our 2023 Annual Report.

 ¹ The National Philanthropic Trust (NPT) UK’s DAF Report 2023

² Stewardship uses The Foundation Center method to calculate its payout rate; each year's total amount of grants made from Stewardship is divided by the total amount of charitable assets (restricted funds) held at the end of the prior year. This method is also used by NPT in their UK DAF Report.