There’s no question that this era of inflation – where interest rates have jumped more than they have in decades — is squeezing Canadians.

One category that is suffering from this period of tight spending is charitable giving.

According to the Kingston Whig-Standard, “the number of taxpayers who gave to charitable causes dropped to 17.7 per cent in 2021 — a 20-year low, according to the Fraser Institute’s annual report measuring generosity in Canada,” the Whig reports. “Charitable giving hit a high in 2004, with 25.4 per cent of tax filers making donations, but gifts to charity have dropped each year since. Twenty-three per cent of taxpayers gave to charity in 2011,” the newspaper adds.

Compounding the problem is that those who do give are also giving less, the Whig continues. Donations represented 0.55 per cent of income in 2021, down from 0.58 per cent in 2001.

“The data shows Canadians are consistently less charitable every year, which means charities face greater challenges to secure resources to help those in need,” states the Fraser Institute’s Jake Fuss in the article.

The folks at Canada Helps an organization that assists charities with fundraising and has helped raise a whopping “$2 billion in giving” since its inception 23 years ago, see the decline in giving as a serious societal problem.

In their 2023 Giving Report, the organization notes that “the rising cost of living and prolonged impacts from the pandemic have more Canadians in need of charitable services. At the same time, fewer Canadians are making charitable donations.”

Canada Helps notes that while two in 10 Canadians “expect to use or are already using charitable services within the next six months,” the percentage of Canadians that give “is down five per cent in the last 10 years.”

The report notes that:

• 40.3 per cent of charities “have experienced a lasting increase in demand” since the pandemic began
• 55.2 per cent of charities have fewer volunteers
• 57.3 per cent of them can’t meet current levels of demand
• 41.8 per cent are worried about attracting more volunteers

What sorts of things are charities doing? A recent MoneySense article looked at what they called the “top 100” charities in Canada, and the impressive work they do.

According to the article, charities help distribute food via food banks and community kitchens, help deliver education programs, support people struggling to break addictions, provide rural communities with safe water supplies, help lower income folks receive specialized healthcare, and so on.

We all realize things are tougher than they have been. If you are in a position to support a charitable cause or two, consider doing so at an increased level this year. And if you don’t have cash to spare, perhaps you can consider volunteering, as so many organizations are in desperate need of such help.

Did you know that the Saskatchewan Pension Plan’s Variable Benefit option is open to all Canadian SPP members? This flexible retirement income option puts you in control of how much you want to withdraw from your SPP account, and when.

Check out SPP today!

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A few years ago – before the pandemic – Global News reported that Canadians were cutting back on charitable giving.

Citing research from the Fraser Institute, Global reported that in 2017 Canadians donated just 0.54 per cent of their income to charity – less than half of what Americans donated (1.25 per cent) in the same timeframe.

Given the severe economic mayhem the pandemic has wrought upon us, Save with SPP wondered if charitable giving has taken an even further plunge.

It sounds like a recovery in charitable giving is underway, states an article posted in the Globe and Mail.

According to the article, authored by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), “in the 12 months since March 2020 when the pandemic was declared, more than three-quarters of Canadians who had given previously to charity continued their philanthropy and gave larger gifts than in past years.”

And while only 70 per cent of Canadians made charitable donations in 2017, 76 per cent did in 2020, and “the average size of the gifts was much higher – up from $772 in 2017 to $965 in 2020,” the article adds.

The AFP’s chair Susan Storey is quoted as saying “Canada is a phenomenally, uniquely generous nation, and philanthropy, at its core, is about helping others and strengthening communities,” she says. “So, it’s not surprising that for those that could give, they did – and generously.”

The Canada Helps website says that while “year over year” giving grew, the overall rate of giving is expected to decline about 10 per cent due to COVID-19.

This site suggests that our charitable giving is more targeted during tough economic times.

Canada Helps reports that Canadians gave 1.6 per cent of their income to charity; however, the percentage of Canadians who make donations is down from the level of 24 per cent it reached in 2007.

Charities have had to be resourceful during the COVID-19 pandemic, when traditional avenues, such as displays in malls or street corners, weren’t available. Online donations are one solution, and in Ottawa, local branches of the Royal Canadian Legion used a drive-thru approach for last fall’s poppy campaign, reports CTV News.

“I think it’s a great idea. First off you don’t have the older veterans out in the cold and wet, obviously it’s keeping them safe from the people in the stores and malls,” Richard Coney tells CTV, praising the idea of a drive-thru poppy campaign.

Donations to Indigenous Peoples’ Charities – for example are up 2.25 per cent, as are donations to social services charities (up 2.2 per cent) and health charities (1.8 per cent).

If you’re able to help out the charity of your choice – and maybe have had to cut back due to the pandemic’s impact on your finances – consider resuming your contributions now that we are emerging from the darkness of the pandemic. There’s a lot riding on it for a lot of people.

Similarly, if you’d had to cut back on retirement savings during COVID-19, gear back into it as soon as you can. A nice feature of the Saskatchewan Pension Plan for its individual members is that you can gear up your contributions when times are good, and gear down when they aren’t. The flexible SPP – celebrating its 35^th year of operations — is open to accepting monthly pre-authorized contributions, or a little bit at a time through the “online bill payment” section of most banks. It takes many small steps to complete a journey, after all!

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