Houses of worship are reeling from a drop in donations that experts say has deeper roots than the current economic downturn, according to The New York Times.

Storefront chapels, suburban synagogues, massive megachurches, and many other types of religious institutions are cutting spending and staff members as the recession takes its toll on congregants’ giving, worsening a long-term trend that has seen religious donations drop as the less religiously inclined baby boomers age.

“It’s wrong to look at this as a money problem,” said Mark Ottoni-Wilhelm, co-author of a 2007 Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis study on religious giving. “The drop in giving follows the involvement pattern. Because people aren’t as involved, the giving pattern traces it.”

Amid economic and social change, synagogues are struggling to find new fund-raising approaches, writes the Forward in an article about the difference between Jewish and Christian donor appeals, the third in a series of articles contrasting the two faiths’ solicitation and spending practices.

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