In 1977, Senator Mark Hatfield, who since 1973 had been a member of the board of World Vision,[2] told evangelicals that they needed to formalize some means for financial accountability or government legislation would be required.

At that meeting, Hatfield's chief legislative assistant told them that "a voluntary disclosure program" would "preclude the necessity of federal intervention into the philanthropic and religious sector.

"[3] The call for more regulation was also a reaction to public pressure caused by several media reports about scandals related to misuse of funds in charities.

[6] World Vision's president Stan Mooneyham stated, "There is no denying that this threat of government action was one of the stimuli" for the founding of the ECFA.

However, ECFA's list of former members also includes terminations for failure to provide information or fully comply with the standards.

In a 2004 survey, ECFA was seen by respondents as an effective accreditation program that provided assurance of financial propriety for its members.

[12] The commission has produced two reports; one addressing the original financial issues, the second related to government control of religious speech touching on the political realm.