The report, commissioned by the Rideau
Hall Foundation and Imagine Canada, the umbrella group for Canadian charities,
is designed to help charities better understand the current giving landscape in
Canada, and to use that knowledge to help them do better fundraising.
Here are a few more highlights.
Decrease
in Donors
Starting in 1990, the proportion of
taxfilers claiming donations began to decline fairly steadily, dropping from a
high of 29.5% in 1990 to 20.8% in 2014.
Despite the decline, the amount given to
charity by individual donors increased from 1995, reaching $1,640 by 2007.
This drove rapid growth in donations,
even though the percentage of taxfilers claiming donations declined.
The overall trend is clear, according to
the report. “The donor base is getting ever-smaller. From the peak in 1990, the
percentage of taxfilers claiming donations has dropped by roughly a third,
while the average amount claimed has nearly doubled.”
This means, the reports states, “that
charities are relying on an ever-smaller number of people for donations.”
The Best Givers
Both the likelihood of
giving and the average amounts donated generally increase with age, income,
frequency of attendance at religious services, and education.
Men are less likely to
give than women, but tend to make larger donations when they do donate.
Those who are married
are most likely to donate, while widows and widowers tend to donate the largest
amounts.
Those who are single
are least likely to donate, and tend to contribute the smallest amounts.
Role of Religion in
Giving
The report confirms
previous research about religion and giving, showing that those who attend
worship services regularly tend to give more often and more.
91% of those who attend
at least once a week give $1,284 a year, while 90% of those who attend at
least once a month give $633.
As for
those who attend at least three times a year, 90% give $428, while 83% of those
who attend once or twice a year give $287.
As for those who don’t
attend at all, 76% give, donating $313 a year.
In other
words, the less people attend worship services, the less they give—a chilling
thing to realize at a time when attendance at worship services is declining
overall.
Giving Trends
The report says there
have been several shifts in how Canadians give since 2004.
First, giving to
Religious organizations is decreasing, both in terms of number of donors and
amounts donated.
Second, giving to
International organizations is increasing, both in terms of number of donors
and amounts donated.
Third, the amounts
donated to social services organizations have increased, even though the number
of donors has remained flat.
Fourth, the number of
donors to health organizations and hospitals has declined significantly, although
the amounts donated have been less affected.
Why Do People Give?
“Most Canadians are
motivated to donate by a mixture of personal and ideological factors,” the
report says.
Ideological factors
“include feelings of compassion towards those in need and the desire to make a
contribution to their community.”
Personal motivators
“include belief in the cause of the organization and being personally affected
or knowing someone who is affected by the cause.”
Other reasons for
donating, including tax credits received in return for donating and religious
obligations, are reported by less than a third of donors.
How do People Give?
Three ways of giving stand out,
according to the report, providing two-thirds of donations.
They are: Donating at a place of worship;
donating on one’s own initiative; and donating in response to a mail request.
They are followed by donating in memory
of someone, paying to attend a charity event, and donating at work.
The remaining five methods are donating
in response to a telephone request, by sponsoring someone in an event, in
response to a television or radio appeal, via door-to-door canvassing, or in a
public place such as at a shopping centre or on the street.
Collectively, these five methods
accounted for only about one in every ten dollars donated.
After
donating by mail, the next most important method is donating online.
The report says that not while more
needs to be learned about online giving, it is clear it is on the rise.
In 2013 12% of Canadians reported making
at least one donation online; collectively they contributed at least $860
million online, equivalent to approximately 7% of total reported donations.
Donors
who are younger, have higher levels of education, and higher incomes are more
likely to donate online.
Where do Canadians
Learn to Give?
The report notes there
is not much data available that can shed light on how Canadians learn to give.
It refers to the 2010
Giving Volunteering and Participating survey, which found the main ways people
learned to give or volunteer were religious organizations, student government
and organized sports.
The survey also showed
the importance of parents setting an example for children; respondents
indicated they were more likely to give or volunteer if they saw their parents
doing those things.
Of all the ways people
learn to give, “being active in a religious organization when young had by far
the largest impact,” the report states.
Religion also
influenced how much people gave; “being active in a religious organization as a
youth had the largest impact on the amount donated as an adult.”
Those who had parents
who volunteered or saw someone they admired helping others also donated more.
Youth and Giving
The giving behaviours of
younger Canadians differ from those of older Canadians in several significant
ways, the report found.
“Most importantly,
younger Canadians are less likely to donate, tend to make smaller donations,
and support fewer individual causes,” than older people, it says.
Those aged 15 to 24 are
less likely to donate than those aged 25 to 34, the study found, and people in
that age group are less likely to donate than those 35 and older.
Those in the youngest
age group also donate less, on average, than those in the middle age group, who
in turn donate less than the oldest age group.
Older People and Giving
Older Canadians give
larger amounts and donate to more causes. In terms of total donations to all
causes, the average donation made by those 65 and older is about one-and-a-half
times the average donation made by younger donors.
Older donors devote
more of their giving to organizations working in the areas of religion;
international development and relief; grant making, fundraising &
voluntarism; and education & research.
Those aged 65 to 74 are
the most likely to donate to secular causes, while those aged 75 and older are
most likely to donate to religious causes, the report says.
Summary
The findings presented
in Thirty Years of Giving in Canada suggest that, despite the
unquestionable generosity of Canadians, much could be done to increase giving
in this country.
It suggests that
charities need to find ways to more effectively engage young people and new
Canadians.
With the decline in
religious attendance, this could include the expansion of formal efforts to
teach young people about giving, in both secondary schools and in colleges and
universities.
"Even small increases
in the proportion of Canadians who give and/or small increases in average
donation amounts would have an enormous impact,” it states.
Time, however “is of
the essence,” it adds.
“The Boomer generation,
which has been the mainstay of the charitable sector
for most of the past 30
years, is aging. There is a limited amount of time left to tap into the
philanthropic impulses of this generation and it is unclear if younger
generations will be willing or able to take their place.”
Charities also need to
find ways to engage immigrants, which are becoming a growing part of the
population.
“Over the coming
decades, immigrants will make up an even greater percentage of the population
and this group is often unfamiliar with and distrustful of the charitable
sector,” it notes.
Charities also need to
recognize the way Canadians give and the causes they give to is changing.
“Organizations that are
adept at understanding changing attitudes and preferences will be in a better
position to adapt their messages and tactics,” it says.
“To navigate this
uncertain future, the sector will need more and better data and strong digital
strategies to facilitate future giving.”
Finally, collaboration
will be important.
“Collective efforts to
encourage a more robust giving culture should also be considered,” it states.
Download the report here.
