NASHVILLE (BP) – As the school year winds down and summer approaches, Southern Baptist churches have given more than $113 million through the National Cooperative Program Allocation Budget in the first seven months of the fiscal year with $15.7 million given in March.

“Once again, our Southern Baptist churches have remained steadfast and faithful in giving through the Cooperative Program,” SBC Executive Committee interim president and CEO Willie McLaurin said in a statement. “My heart is filled with gratitude for every gift received. With five months left in the fiscal year, I am optimistic that giving will accelerate during the summer months, and we will finish the year above budget. ‘If you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together.’ The strength of Southern Baptist churches is that through the Cooperative Program we can advance the Great Commission farther and faster together.”

April National Cooperative Program giving:

• Monthly budgeted amount: $16,022,500.00
• April 2023 giving: $15,793,967.85
• Above/under budget: $228,532.15 (1.43 percent) below budget

Total National Cooperative Program giving:

• Year to date budgeted amount: $112,157,500.00
• Year to date giving: $113,633,245.37
• Above/under budget: $1,475,745.37 (1.32 percent) above budget

Designated giving:

• April giving: $14,576,997.43
• Year to date giving: $133,726,435.89
• Previous year total: $140,675,883.91
• Above/under previous year: $6,949,448.02 (4.94 percent) under previous year

The convention-adopted budget for 2022-2023 is $192,270,000 and includes an initial $200,000 special priority allocation for the SBC Vision 2025 initiative. Cooperative Program funds are then disbursed as follows: 50.41 percent to international missions through the International Mission Board, 22.79 percent to North American missions through the North American Mission Board, 22.16 percent to theological education through the six SBC seminaries and the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives, 2.99 percent to the SBC operating budget and 1.65 percent to the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. If national CP gifts exceed the budget projection at the end of the fiscal year, the balance of the overage is distributed according to the percentages approved for budgetary distribution. The SBC Executive Committee distributes all CP and designated gifts it receives on a weekly basis to the SBC ministry entities.

CP allocation budget gifts received by the Executive Committee are reported monthly to the executives of the entities of the convention, to the state convention offices, to the state Baptist papers and are posted online at sbc.net/cp.