An alkali metal-containing catalyst is prepared by providing a catalyst-containing component which contains an alkali metal and another catalyst metal, for example, transition and platinum group metals, and contacting the catalyst-containing component with a binder agent in the presence of a non-aqueous, non-polar component to form a mixture. The mixture is then applied to a suitable catalyst substrate and calcined at the appropriate temperature to produce the alkali metal-containing catalyst. One preferred alkali metal is sodium, and oxides of silicon, aluminum and zirconium may be used as binder agents.