Our 2025 Annual Report celebrates a record year of growth in generosity.
Record levels of generosity
We saw strong growth in Gifts In of 49% to £161m, reflective of the trust and value donors place in Stewardship. This includes a one-off gift of £32m.
There was also a 26% increase to £134m in Grants Out to our 12,000 church, charity and Christian worker partners in 2025, and the total number of grants exceeded one million for the first time, an increase of 5% year on year. The rate at which grants are being paid out to our partners is the highest to date at 68%¹, which is well over twice the UK DAF average². Our total assets are £248m, which represents a year on year increase of 15%.
“In a season when many churches and charities are navigating real pressures, it has been deeply encouraging to witness the resilience of our donors and the extraordinary impact of the ministries they support. Behind every number is a story: a church worker sustained, a community outreach strengthened, a charity equipped, a family supported. These stories remind us that the true measure of our work is not financial growth alone, but the Gospel impact that generosity makes possible. We give thanks to God, our donors and partners for all that we have achieved together in 2025.” Janie Oliver, CEO, Stewardship
Further highlights from our 2025 Annual Report:
- 95% Customer Service Satisfaction (CSAT) score recorded as the average for 2025
- Revenue for professional services for churches and charities increased by 6% to £1.5m
- Payroll Bureau service revenue grew by 9% to £0.6m
- Accounts Examination grew by 5% to a record 527 clients, with revenue increasing by 4% to £0.7m
- Loan book consolidated at a total of 110 loans with an overall value of £30.5m
- Second Stewardship Generosity Report published with research sample size increased by 50%
- 40acts, our generosity challenge for Lent, returned with over 43,000 participants and generated £0.3m in one-off gifts
- Our Giving app became available on both iOS and Android
- A monthly podcast, Active Generosity, launched at the start of 2025
Strong investment performance aligned with Christian values
Our overall investments in churches, ministries and opportunities that are aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals increased by £1.5m, which represents 29% of total assets. This is in line with our adoption of the Kingdom Impact Bull’s Eye Investment Approach, which prioritises investments that balance financial return with positive social or Kingdom impact. We also recorded £5.9m in investment gains.
Growth in partnerships
We attracted just under 900 new church, charity and Christian worker partners in 2025. We continued to be the main giving partner for Spring Harvest (run by Essential Christian) and to partner with Gospel Patrons and with Maclellan on their Giving Together events. We also brought back the popular Faith in Fundraising Conference, in partnership with Action Planning and Yeomans, and hosted a special 'Cause Cross' event series that brought charity partners and generous donors together to share stories of need and impact across a range of themes including justice and human rights, women and mental health and wellbeing.
Strengthened thought leadership
Our second Generosity Report further established its credibility with a 50% larger sample size, which enabled greater statistical robustness and more granular and authoritative analysis of all demographics. The annual research is fast becoming an invaluable resource for leaders across the church and charity sector. We are also growing its thought leadership through 40acts, our generosity challenge for Lent, and a new monthly podcast, Active Generosity, which invites church and charity leaders to share their insights on biblical stewardship and generosity.
Read our 2025 Annual Report
You can read our 2025 Annual Report as an interactive digital publication or you can download it as a pdf.
Watch the highlights
Hear from our CEO, Janie Oliver, as she shares some of the highlights from our 2025 Annual Report.
Media enquiries
If you are a journalist with a media enquiry, please get in touch. If you need images, please use the link below.
¹ We use The Foundation Center method to calculate our 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.
² The National Philanthropic Trust (NPT) UK’s DAF Report 2025
Learn to live more generously
Join thousands receiving insights and reflections that encourage a life of generosity. Sign up to Generous today and receive a free digital copy of Money and the Gospel.
Ruth Jackson
Ruth leads the PR and Communications for Stewardship, which she joined in April 2022.
She has over 25 years’ marketing communications experience across a range of sectors, including higher education, technology and the arts, both business- and customer-facing.
Ruth worships and serves at C3 Church in Cambridge, where she lives with her husband, two daughters, a dog and a cat. When she’s not at her desk, you might find her rowing on the River Cam, in a ballet class or out for a walk.
She supports causes that are focused on alleviating global poverty and injustice, with a particular interest in supporting vulnerable children.
