More likely it's under 5 percent or perhaps around 3 percent. If we can find the figures, we can compare the percentage of income given in previous years to establish a trend. Ratios provide another benchmark. A 1989 study, mainly of larger churches, by Christopher Robinson, chief financial officer of Partners International, established a series of benchmark ratios. One way to look at it is old money versus new money .
Old money is what was given last year.
If the new pledges and increased amount of old pledges are greater than the lost pledges and the amount of decrease of other old pledges, we are ahead. Net new money tells us what additional funding we can expect in a given year. A second way to break down the sources of income is by age of the givers. A third division is by size of gift. By charting the number of donors in a series of giving brackets, we can see how a church's income is derived.