Sara Neely
Giving Behaviour For Our Time, Talent, and Treasure
F
eeding the hungry. Educating children and youth. Caring for the vulnerable, the sick, and the elderly. Finding cures or the best possible treatments. Bringing spiritual communities together. Protecting animals and the environment. Exploring and showcasing our arts and culture.
Charities across Canada are integral to our economy and our well-being. We are fortunate they are supported by individual Canadians at all stages of their lives. Two recent reports shed light on who those generous Canadians are, the causes they support, and how they put their time, talent, and treasure to the task of helping create a vibrant, caring community for all. The research report “30 Years of Giving in Canada: The Giving Behaviour of Canadians: Who gives, how, and why?” was released in 2018 by the Rideau Hall Foundation in partnership with Imagine Canada.1 It seeks to add to the knowledge and evidence base on how giving in Canada is evolving and to help foster a stronger culture of giving in Canada. In 2014, TD Wealth, in cooperation with Investor Economics, 1 http://www.imaginecanada.ca/30years
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Charities across Canada are integral to our economy and our well-being. We are fortunate they are supported by individual Canadians at all stages of their lives. published Time, Treasure, Talent: Canadian Women and Philanthropy.2 The report examines a wide variety of issues associated with the philanthropic activities of affluent women in Canada. Addendum reports were issued in May 20163 and October 2017.4 Taken together, the reports provide an extensive overview of charitable giving in Canada since 1985 with data and commentary offering an in-depth look at trends by sex, age, income, and region. It is estimated that in 2014, Canadians gave approximately $14.3 billion in receipted and unreceipted donations to registered charities. The motivations for giving have increased or decreased slightly over the years, but their rankings have remained consistent.
• Compassion toward those in need, followed by personal belief in the cause and contribution to the community, are key motivators for over 82% of givers. • Religious obligations are the motivation for about 29% of donors. • The tax credit comes in last at 26%. lthough claimed donations have A increased 150% in real terms since 1985, a concerning trend is that the proportion of tax filers claiming donations has been falling steadily since 1990. • As the number of tax filers claiming donations has decreased (29.5% in 1990 to 20.8% in 2014), the average donation amounts have increased ($887 in 1990 to just under $1700 in 2014). Total donations have continued to rise only because those who give are giving more. That also means charities are relying on a decreasing percentage of the population.
3 https://www.td.com/ca/document/PDF/ tdw-pgf-canadian-women-and-philanthropyaddendum.pdf
Interestingly, men and women have different approaches to charitable giving. Women are driven by issues and have confidence in the charitable sector to get to the solutions. They appreciate the social aspects of giving, in a learning environment, and being active and supporting causes that are important to them during their lifetime.
4 https://www.td.com/ca/document/PDF/ tdw-pgf-canadian-women-and-philanthropyaddendum2017.pdf
It has been suggested that men equate wealth with achievement and prestige.
2 https://www.td.com/ca/document/PDF/tdwpgf-canadian-women-and-philanthropy.pdf
The Society of Notaries Public of British Columbia
Volume 27 Number 4 Winter 2018
