Year-to-date contributions through the Southern Baptist Convention’s Cooperative Program are 3.27 percent below the same time frame last year.
As of Feb. 28, the year-to-date total of $85,293,089 for CP missions is $2,881,905 below the $88,174,995 received at the end of February 2008.
Designated giving of $93,009,854 for the same year-to-date period is 6.36 percent, or $6,318,037, below gifts of $99,327,891 received at this point last year.
Monthly CP receipts totaled $17,043,489, while designated gifts received last month amounted to $55,117,599.
Month-to-month swings reflect a number of factors, but largely result from the timing of receipts from state conventions. The end-of-month total represents money received by close of business on the last business day of each month.
For the SBC Cooperative Program allocation budget, the year-to-date total of $85,293,089 is 99.51 percent of the $85,715,347 budgeted to support Southern Baptist ministries globally and across North America. The SBC operates on an Oct. 1-Sept. 30 fiscal year.
During the last fiscal year, Southern Baptists topped the $200-million mark for the third year in a row and overall giving to national causes surpassed the $400-million benchmark for a second straight year.
The Cooperative Program is Southern Baptists’ method of supporting missions and ministry efforts of state conventions and the SBC.