Facts and figures for 2018

In 2018, we received 7,607 applications for aid from all over the world. Thanks to the generosity of our donors, we were able to finance activities amounting to €110.5 million.* The majority of these funds – 80.1% of the donations – went towards mission-related expenses, i.e. concrete project work, information, media support and prayer activities.

€110.5 million
Detailed use of funds
 
Mission-related expenditures
 
Administration
 
Donor relations and fundraising
€88.5 million
Mission-related expenditures
 
Project work
 
Information, proclamation of faith and advocacy for discriminated and persecuted Christians

We keep the share of necessary expenditures for administration and fundraising as low as possible at 8.5% and 11.4%, respectively, so that as many resources as possible reach local Christians.

Offices in 23
More than 330,000
111,108,825
Use of 2.8
Project partners in 139
5,019
80.1%
countries
donors worldwide per year
euros in donations and other income
million euros in surpluses from previous years
countries
projects supported worldwide
of the funds used are allocated to mission-related expenses
Offices in 23 countries
More than 330,000 donors worldwide per year​
111,108,825 euros in donations and other income​
Use of 2.8 million euros in surpluses from previous years​
Project partners in 139 countries​
5,019 projects supported worldwide​
80.1% of the funds used are allocated to mission-related expenses​

In 2018, we supported a total of 5,019 projects in 139 countries with approximately €75.5 million. With a further €13.0 million, we advocated the needs of disadvantaged and persecuted Christians worldwide.

Fluctuating legacy income fell by €11.7 million compared with the previous year, so that we were able to finance fewer projects in 2018. All the more reason for us to be pleased that the current level of income from donations has remained stable. We are building our project commitments for the future on this basis. 

» Reconstruction, faith formation and emergency assistance in war zones were our project focal points in 2018. «

The projects we support are primarily of a pastoral nature. In 2018, about one-third of the outlays were used for the construction of seminary buildings and the construction and reconstruction of churches and church facilities. 

More than one-fifth of our project budget was used for training priests and sisters, as well as for the further education of priests and faith formation of the laity. 

At just under one-eighth, a considerable portion of our funding was also used for emergency aid, including for numerous victims in crisis areas in the Middle East.

An important constant is also our funding of Mass stipends: in 2018, we awarded €12.4 million in Mass stipends to priests around the world.

€75.5 million
Aid granted by type of help
h
Construction and reconstruction
a
Mass stipends
i
Emergency assistance
b
Training of priests and religious
d
Faith formation of laity
g
Means of transport for pastoral care
e

Distribution of Bibles, religious books and media

c
Subsistence help for religious

» Our relief measures start with close dialogue with the local churches. «

In 2018, regional focal points for our aid projects were placed in the Middle East and Africa. In all our project work, dialogue with the local Church is particularly important to us because the local bishops and religious know best where the need is greatest and which relief measures must be taken. We consider it our task to support the Church, particularly in those places where Christians suffer from war, oppression, persecution and violence. 

Unfortunately, a hotspot in 2018 was once again the Middle East, where the faithful are daily exposed to the arbitrariness and violence of the Daesh and other Islamist groups in many places. Therefore, aid projects for Syria and Iraq will continue to be high on our agenda. 

Christians in many countries in Africa also suffer from the persecution and violence of radical Islamism. At the same time, Africa is the continent with the strongest growth in believers. Our funding for Africa takes these developments into account, as more than a quarter of our overall project budget went to the local churches of African countries in 2018. 

In Asia, on the other hand, our priority is in regions such as Pakistan and the Philippines, where radical Islamism is also on the rise. 

We are also active in India, where an increasingly radical Hinduism persecutes and oppresses the Christian minority with violence in many places. 

China, Vietnam and Laos, which have suffered under communist power structures for decades, also remain on our list.

€75.5 million
Aid granted by region
 
Africa
 
Middle East
 
Asia/Oceania
 
Latin America
 
Western/Eastern Europe
 
Other