system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: How do the major religions finance themselves?
gpt
Through the greatest nation in the world: Donation.
Otherwise known as tithing, churches, temples, mosques, etc. take donations from their members to fund the organization's members and operations costs. Some religions require a certain amount of your income, or "recommend" it. Each individual church, temple, mosque, then feeds a portion of it's collections to the higher governing body in the heirarchy until it reaches the top of the religion as a whole.
They do alright, for the most part. Especially since a lot of their income is not taxable in many countries.