Faith-based disaster relief takes several forms: direct recovery grants, emergency programming, volunteer labor, supplies, shelters, and broader humanitarian work. The figures below cover different organizations, geographies, and reporting periods, so they should be read as organization-level measures rather than one combined industry total.
Contents
- U.S. Catholic Charities recovery spending
- Catholic Relief Services emergency programs
- Mennonite Disaster Service spending and labor
- Samaritan’s Purse disaster response
- Latter-day Saint humanitarian expenditures
- Spending alongside reach
U.S. Catholic Charities recovery spending
Catholic Charities USA provides a useful U.S.-focused view of disaster-recovery awards. Its Called to Serve: 2025 Annual Report says the organization awarded $14.6 million in disaster-recovery assistance while working with 30 agencies on 42 disasters across 19 states during the past year. The same report describes the $14.6 million as assistance coordinated with those 30 Catholic Charities agencies, making the award total a network recovery measure rather than a general estimate of all Catholic Charities spending. Called to Serve: 2025 Annual Report
The preceding annual reporting period shows a different disaster mix. In its Pathways Forward: 2024 Annual Report, Catholic Charities USA said its network responded to 52 natural and manmade disasters in the United States and territories during 2024. It also reported raising more than $8 million for recovery after Hurricanes Helene and Milton, with those funds going directly to affected agencies. Immediate relief for those hurricanes was guided through 12 agencies across seven states. Pathways Forward: 2024 Annual Report
Earlier figures help show how the network’s reported recovery activity has been presented over time. The Disaster Recovery 2022 Impact Report: Answering the Call says CCUSA distributed more than $3.4 million in recovery funds in its 2022 disaster-response portfolio. That portfolio operated through more than 25 distribution sites. The report also places the value of in-kind donations made to CCUSA for disaster relief and other humanitarian needs since July 2022 at nearly $8 million. Disaster Recovery 2022 Impact Report: Answering the Call
The 2021 annual report adds a grant-count measure: CCUSA provided 75 emergency disaster grants to member agencies, described as a 25% increase over the prior year. That is a count of grants, not a dollar total, so it should not be added to the spending figures above. A Year of Service Through Encounter: 2021 Annual Report
Catholic Relief Services emergency programs
Catholic Relief Services reports a much larger international emergency-program budget than the U.S. recovery awards described above. Its consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2024 record $616.185 million in emergency program services. The 2024 CRS annual report says emergency programming represented 46.29% of program-service expenses.
For scale, CRS recorded $1.242234 billion in total program-service expenses and $1.331109 billion in total expenses for that fiscal year. Program services accounted for 93.32% of total expenses. CRS also reported $1.300424 billion in total support and revenue. These are CRS-wide financial measures, while the emergency-program figure is a specific program category. CRS Consolidated Financial Statements, September 30, 2024 and 2024 CRS Annual Report
The revenue breakdown identifies $521.300 million from U.S. government grants and agreements and $158.386 million from other public grants and contributions. At September 30, 2024, CRS reported $96.295 million in private emergency funds among net assets with purpose restrictions. These figures describe funding and restricted assets; they do not establish that every dollar was spent during the same period.
CRS paired the financial reporting with emergency-program reach. During October 1, 2023–September 30, 2024, emergency programs reached 17 million participants through 217 projects in 68 countries. Across all program areas, CRS reported operating in 134 countries with 1,978 local partners and helping 198 million people worldwide. The all-program totals are broader than emergency programming and should not be treated as emergency-only reach. 2024 CRS Annual Report
Mennonite Disaster Service spending and labor
Mennonite Disaster Service reports its U.S. finances for August 1, 2023–July 31, 2024. Its MDS Annual Report 2023–2024 lists $13.692067 million in U.S. revenue, $12.206206 million in U.S. contributions and grants, and $12.467296 million in U.S. expenditures. U.S. program and project spending totaled $10.284624 million, representing 82.5% of U.S. expenditures.
The report breaks out several disaster-response costs. U.S. national disaster responses cost $957,698, while U.S. unit disaster responses cost $434,255. MDS also reported $92,000 in U.S. church grants for disaster work and $107,750 for responses to U.S. disasters. These categories are reported separately and are not presumed to be additive to the full program/project total.
MDS’s volunteer measures show why spending alone does not capture the scale of faith-based response. Volunteers served 513 disaster-affected households and contributed 52,027 service days during the fiscal year. MDS valued the volunteer labor supporting its 2023–2024 disaster work at $13.94 million in U.S. dollars. The valuation is an estimate of labor value reported by MDS, not cash expenditure. MDS Annual Report 2023–2024
Samaritan’s Purse disaster response
Samaritan’s Purse reports disaster activity through response, household, volunteer, and logistics indicators. Its Fact Sheet: U.S. Disaster Relief says the organization responded to 32 disasters in 15 U.S. states during 2024 and helped about 12,100 families recover. More than 50,000 volunteers served 926,376 hours with Samaritan’s Purse during the year.
The same fact sheet records a specific participation measure for U.S. military veterans and dependents: 98 volunteers served on 21 disaster deployments in 2024. For the longer period from 1998 through 2024, Samaritan’s Purse reported responding to 372 domestic disasters in 39 states and aiding more than 86,016 families. The long-term figures are cumulative as reported in the 2024 fact sheet, not a single-year spending measure. Fact Sheet: U.S. Disaster Relief
Its Douglas DC-8 fact sheet adds international logistics data for 2024. The aircraft carried more than 527,700 pounds of cargo on nine relief missions. After Hurricane Beryl, four flights moved more than 375,000 pounds of relief supplies to Grenada and Jamaica. Water-purification systems in that response provided more than 378,000 liters of clean water, and Samaritan’s Purse partnered with 283 churches during the Caribbean response. These are operational outputs, not disclosed dollar expenditures. Fact Sheet: Douglas DC-8
Latter-day Saint humanitarian expenditures
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reported $1.45 billion in 2024 expenditures for caring for those in need. The 2024 Report on Caring for Those in Need explicitly describes that figure as covering humanitarian, welfare, and related charitable efforts, so it is broader than disaster relief alone.
The report lists 3,836 humanitarian projects serving 192 countries and territories, along with 6.6 million volunteer hours. Those figures describe the full caring-for-those-in-need effort rather than a disaster-only program. 2024 Report on Caring for Those in Need
The report also provides disaster examples from 2024. Flooding in Brazil’s Rio Grande do Sul displaced 200,000 people and caused more than 90 deaths, according to the report. The Church established 21 shelters for flood victims and delivered six tons of emergency supplies, including mattresses and hygiene kits.
In Florida, more than 21,000 Church members provided hurricane relief. Those efforts totaled around 311,000 volunteer hours across 10,300 homes. The Florida measures are volunteer and household-reach indicators; they do not identify a separate Florida dollar expenditure.
Spending alongside reach
The figures become easier to interpret when financial measures are kept beside the reach or activity measure they describe. The following comparison spans different reporting periods and organizational scopes; it is not a ranking of effectiveness or a combined spending total.
| Organization and period | Reported financial measure | Reported reach or activity |
|---|---|---|
| Catholic Charities USA, 2025 annual report | $14.6 million in disaster-recovery assistance | 42 disasters, 30 agencies, 19 states |
| CRS, fiscal year ended September 30, 2024 | $616.185 million in emergency program services | 17 million participants, 217 projects, 68 countries |
| MDS, August 1, 2023–July 31, 2024 | $10.284624 million in U.S. program/project spending | 513 households, 52,027 service days |
| Samaritan’s Purse, 2024 | Dollar spending not stated in the cited fact sheet | 32 disasters, 12,100 families, 926,376 volunteer hours |
| Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2024 | $1.45 billion for caring for those in need | 3,836 projects, 192 countries and territories |
Two cautions matter when comparing these rows. First, the time windows differ: CRS uses a fiscal year ending September 30, MDS uses August through July, and several U.S. organizations report calendar-year or annual-report figures. Second, the categories differ. Catholic Charities’ amount is disaster-recovery assistance; CRS’s amount is emergency program services; MDS’s amount is U.S. program/project spending; and the Latter-day Saint figure includes humanitarian, welfare, and related charitable efforts.
The available data therefore support a picture of varied faith-based capacity rather than one universal spending total. Cash awards, restricted funds, supplies, shelters, volunteer service days, family assistance, and international project reach measure different parts of disaster relief. Keeping the source, geography, period, and definition attached to each number is essential when assessing what faith-based organizations spent and what their response accomplished.