Number of Canadians donating to charities is declining as charities make the most of Giving Tuesday

Sarah Plowman reports on ‘Giving Tuesday,’ one of the biggest fundraising days of the year and how charities are navigating through tough economic times.

As charities lean into Giving Tuesday to fundraise, the executive director of one organization is both anxious and hopeful donors will come through this season.

Cassandra LeBlanc, executive director of Fredericton Community Kitchens, said they serve 500 meals a day, every day.

Demand has climbed by 13 per cent compared to last year, accounting for about 20,000 extra meals. Costs have climbed too.

At this point in the year, the organization’s balance is negative.

“You’re just hoping and praying that December will be a really impactful donation month, and that you can kind of end the year on a high note,” she said. “It does create a lot of anxiety.”

Leblanc said so far, donations have been strong, but there’s a lot of uncertainty. She said their community kitchen managed to mail out their donation campaigns to reach donors, despite a rotating mail strike.

Donations are starting to flow in via mail, as well as e-transfer or online donations.

“But we still have a large gap to go,” she said. “Then that gap is a little bigger than last year because … as numbers go up, expenses go up.

Unlike last December, charities are not contending with a mail strike, but rotating strikes did lead to a delay for NB Lung’s mailout campaign.

“It’s a bit frustrating, but really more, it’s the uncertainty of not knowing,” said Dusty Green, director of marketing and communications with NB Lung.

When asked how the delay may impact donations, he said they won’t know for a bit, but noted they usually see a bump around this time of year, and they’ll be in touch with their donors any way they can.

Green said donations have slowly trended downwards the past few years.

“I think that speaks more to … the economic situation in New Brunswick and the affordability situation that we’re in,” he said. On the other side of that, we also see an increase in access to services as well.

“Just think of charities during this time of year,” he added. “We are filling in a lot of the gaps where government programs are not covering folks.”

Last year, CanadaHelps — the country’s largest online donation and fundraising platform — raised more than $16 million in for charities on Giving Tuesday, a new record.

This year, they’re aiming to beat that milestone. But they also note the number of people donating in Canada continues to go down.

“What’s happening is that those who do give are giving more,” said Julie Fiorini, general manager, charity and donor services with CanadaHelps.

Fiorini points out that they continue to see a reduction in both the amount of Canadians who file annual income tax returns and claim taxable receipts on those income tax returns. However, the absolute number of dollars donated continues to go up, she explained.

“It’s essentially older demographics who are the most generous, of all demographics in the country, and also higher net-worth individuals. They continue to make the most substantial donations,” said Fiorini.

Research released by CanadaHelps last month showed those earning more than $150,000 a year account for nearly half of all donations — a divide that continues to grow.