Charities in Canada stretched thin as donations drop, demand rises, report says
CBC
Canadian charities are facing "unprecedented strain" due to a projected decline in donations and an expected growth in demand due to the pandemic, according to a new report.
The Giving Report 2022, released on Tuesday by a group called CanadaHelps, says one in four Canadians, or 26 per cent, expect to use or are already using charitable services this year to meet basic needs. One in four Canadians, or 25 per cent, expect to give less this year than they did in last year, the report says.
This is the fifth annual report by CanadaHelps, a platform for online donations. It looked at the impact of COVID-19 on charities, as well as generational differences in giving, the rate of decline in giving and the growing need for charitable services, said Jacob O'Connor, the platform's senior vice-president of charity engagement.
"We really honed in on the uncertainties that have come out of the pandemic and the unprecedented strain that this has put on Canada's charitable sector," O'Connor told CBC News.
"Giving has declined, the demand for service has increased and people's propensity to give and ability to give has also decreased. It's kind of a triple whammy there."
O'Connor said the pandemic had led to cancelled in-person fundraising events, including galas, runs, walkathons and shows.
CanadaHelps projected a 10 per cent decline in giving in 2020 and an additional two per cent decline the following year for a 12 per cent decrease from 2019 to 2021.
O'Connor said the projections were based on tax filing data from the Canadian Revenue Agency and a projection model. He said there is a relationship, or strong correlation, between gross domestic product and aggregate giving in Canada. CanadaHelps used OECD numbers and the correlation to make the 12 per cent projection, he said.
"Canadians did give more online, but it didn't make up for the tremendous decreases that we saw from those other avenues," he said.
According to the report, four out of five Canadians expect inflation and the effects of the pandemic to have a negative impact on their financial situation.
Neil Hetherington, CEO of Toronto's Daily Bread Food Bank, said the findings are not a surprise. The food bank saw about 55,000 client visits per month before the pandemic. That monthly number has risen to about 130,000. The donations have not tripled, he said.
"Our biggest concern is actually two years out from now, when the need peaks in terms of usage and donations remain stagnant," he said. "The need has increased much more so than donations."
Inflationary pressures have led to an increase in the number of people who need the food bank, he added.
O'Connor said the report also found a widening of what CanadaHelps calls a "giving gap," the rate at which different age groups are giving. The researchers discovered Canadians aged 55 and older are now giving at double the rate of Canadians aged 25 to 54.
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