Metrics Matter – Armenian Churches to Receive Historically Unprecedented $10+ Million in SRO-Linked Faith Support
In a move that blends mission with measurable outcomes, Khachkar Studios announced on April 11, 2025 a US$10+ million performance-based support initiative targeting Armenian churches across the United States. The effort marks a new wave of data-informed philanthropy aimed at transforming underperforming faith
institutions into high-impact community pillars.
The studio’s primary concern: the near-collapse of weekly participation in Armenian churches. Research from 2024 revealed that only 13,000 Armenian Americans attend Non-Holiday Badarak services — less than 3% of the population and far below national Orthodox norms.
Khachkar Studios’ solution is strategic. Thirty-seven churches have been shortlisted and will be evaluated on their ability to increase “The Faithful,” a term used to define regular, non-holiday churchgoers. This growth is tracked by KPI #1 and translated into SROI — Social Return on Investment — which ranks each church’s outcomes relative to peers.
The pilot awards between $40,000 and $80,000 annually per church, comparable to a $1 million endowment for an average-sized parish. Funds support eight activities designed to directly grow “The Faithful” numbers. These include role model training, Bible study sessions, outreach home visits, and the production of Armenian Christian media content. A detailed description of all activities is available in the April 2025
Pilot Briefing Packet.
Khachkar Studios has also committed to filling the media vacuum surrounding Armenian religious life. Their “Good News” outreach will span seven workstreams —short clips, podcasts, events, music, writing, news, and data analysis — and will be backed by a budget more than 25 times larger than all other Armenian church media efforts combined.
Importantly, the program is designed to be scalable and low-burden: only six hours per week of shared volunteer time is required per church to deliver results.
The initiative is supported by the Charles & Agnes Kazarian Foundation, JI-Analytics, and Japonica Partners. Together, these institutions are demonstrating that the tools of the investment world — KPIs, benchmarking, SROI — can be repurposed to grow spiritual capital, not just financial returns.
If the pilot delivers results, it may set a new precedent for outcome-driven giving in the religious nonprofit space.
