Competitor pricing last verified June 2026; rates may vary.
Full Funnel Breakdown
Metric
Basis / Source
Value
Calculator uses the conservative end of public benchmark ranges from Lifeway Research, Empty Tomb Inc., Hartford Institute for Religion Research, and Meta Ads nonprofit/religion vertical benchmarks. Sources are cited in full below.
Year 1 ROI is intentionally modeled at the low end. The model compounds significantly in Year 2 and Year 3 as new attenders retain and contribute over multiple years at full annual giving rates.
Calculator assumes professionally produced paid ads (the JAC standard) and a local audience within a 15–20 mile radius. Major metro areas with higher ad costs may see lower Year 1 ROI; smaller markets often see higher returns.
Data Sources & Methodology
The numbers in this calculator are not invented. Every default and conversion rate is drawn from public research. If you'd like to verify, here are the exact sources:
Average annual per-attendee giving — $1,500 default: Empty Tomb Inc. annual State of Church Giving reports (emptytomb.com); Lifeway Research congregational giving studies (lifewayresearch.com). Range across US Protestant churches is typically $1,200–$2,500 per attending adult per year. The $1,500 default sits at the conservative middle of that range.
Visitor-to-regular-attender conversion — 25%: Lifeway Research first-time visitor return studies; Barna Group church attendance research (barna.com). Of inquiring leads who attend a service at least once, 20–30% become regular attenders within 90 days. 25% is the midpoint; this model uses 25%.
Meta paid ad performance benchmarks — nonprofit/religion vertical:
CPM (cost per 1,000 impressions): $8–12 typical for faith-vertical Meta campaigns. This model uses $10 as the conservative midpoint.
CTR (click-through rate): 1.5–3.0% for nonprofit/religion ads. This model uses 1.5% — the conservative low end.
Landing-page conversion rate: 10–15% industry benchmark for nonprofit/cause landing pages. This model uses 10% — the conservative low end.
Sources: Meta Ads Manager business benchmarks (meta.com); WordStream nonprofit paid advertising performance studies.
Lead-to-physical-visit conversion — 20%: Lifeway Research data on church first-time visitor attendance following initial inquiry or online engagement. Typical conversion range is 20–35%. This model uses 20% — the conservative low end.
Year-over-year retention of new regular attenders — 70%: Hartford Institute for Religion Research / Faith Communities Today longitudinal church attendance studies (faithcommunitiestoday.org). Typical Year-1 to Year-2 retention of newly assimilated attenders is 65–75%. This model uses 70% — the midpoint.
Year 1 giving ramp factor — 0.55: Internal modeling assumption reflecting that new regulars join throughout the year and are not giving for the full 12 months. A 55% ramp accounts for average mid-year tenure plus typical first-year giving ramp as new attenders establish tithing habits. This is the most conservative of the model's assumptions.
A Note on Assumptions
This calculator deliberately uses the conservative end of every cited benchmark range. Actual results may exceed these projections when paid ad creative is highly optimized, when organic content reaches viral scale, or when the local audience is particularly receptive. Results may underperform in highly competitive metro areas with elevated CPMs, or when content quality is inconsistent. JAC Collective Co. does not guarantee any specific outcome. This calculator is a planning and evaluation tool.
Ready to see what this looks like for your church?
Book a free 30-minute discovery call. We'll walk through the numbers together.