FEATURE STORY
In 2010, Partners for Sacred Places and the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy
and Practice concluded a pilot study of the economic impact of houses of worship. We found that
twelve Philadelphia congregations contribute nearly $52 million in annual economic value to
the city of Philadelphia, for an average of over $4.3 million per congregation. By assessing more
than 50 different factors, we have pioneered a new quantitative approach to understanding how
congregations impact local economies. Historic sacred places must now be understood as critical
economic catalysts, suggesting a new shift in community investment policy and practice.
Research Report Documents Halo
Effect of Historic Sacred Places
T
he dozens of ways congregations benefit their
communities can be categorized into three broad
areas: direct spending, educational programs, and a host of
catalyzing or leveraging economic values. (Graph 1)
Direct Spending (Graph 4, page 16)
Sacred places invigorate local economies by buying goods
and services locally and employing neighborhood residents.
On average, congregations in the study each contributed well
over $2 million annually to their neighborhoods through
direct spending. New businesses credited congregations with
providing enough patronage for them to get to a financial
solid ground. Paid congregation staff benefitted from holding
family-sustaining jobs.
Education
Congregations that host daycare or parochial schools provide
local, inclusive, and affordable places for children to learn.
The value of daycare in particular is twofold: congregations
represent not only a safe place for child care, they enable
parents to go to work. Moreover, congregational K-12 schools
often provide affordable access to private education, thus
benefiting students from a variety of neighborhoods.
Catalytic Impacts (Graph 3, page 16)
Congregational activities and resources leverage value in their
communities in a number of ways:
Open Space — In the neighborhoods that urban congregations
serve, there is often a premium on green spaces, valuable both
for their aesthetics, and for invisible qualities as well. Trees,
for instance, not only increase housing values by increasing
neighborhood beauty, they also save residents money on
energy used to cool their homes, reduce expensive storm
water runoff treatment, and remove carbon dioxide from the
air. Congregations also provide free community playgrounds
and small parking lots that are inexpensive or free to
neighborhood residents.
Education
$8,580,320
Catalytic Impacts
$15,243,713
Direct Spending
$28,026,145
Graph 1 — Total Economic Halo Effect
of Congregations in the Pilot Study:
$52 million
Magnet Effect (Graph 2, page 16) — Urban congregations
attract resources and volunteer labor to the city. The
impressive magnet effect of the 12 congregations that
participated in the study was over $2 million. Members and
non-members coming to visit sacred places from suburbs or
outlying neighborhoods spend their money at local stores and
other businesses. Out-of-town attendees of cultural offerings
and life events such as reunions, weddings, and funerals, and
spend money locally on hotels, food, and transportation.
Sacred Places • Spring 2011 • 14