Canadians faring well urged to donate to charities
The YWCA’S Downtown Vancouver hotel is only 15 per cent full this summer, down from 90 per cent in a normal summer, leaving the non-profit group struggling to fund its charitable activities.
While the drop in business is typical in the tourist sector, the Y relies on revenue from its hotel and fitness centre to help pay for services such as child care, programs for single mothers, support groups and youth education.
Arthur Mills, vice-president of hotel and housing development for the Vancouver YWCA, said the services have continued, thanks in part to federal wage supplements, but he worries about the coming months.
“If this (pandemic) situation continues, governments don’t have an unending source of revenue,” he said. “Donations are going to be more and more important. There is really a greater need (for donations), and if people have the wherewithal to donate to their favourite charity, I would strongly encourage them to do that.”
Months before COVID-19 hit in March, the Fraser Institute noted in its annual report on charitable giving in Canada that in 2017 (the year for the 2019 report), Canadians’ generosity to charities had been at a 20-year low.
The report found that a declining percentage of Canadians — 20 per cent — were including donations on their income tax returns and were donating less as a percentage of their income, at about half a per cent of their earnings.
More Americans, 25 per cent, donate, and they give triple the amount on average, 1.5 per cent of income, than Canadians, the report found.
FUNDRAISING AFFECTED
In March, COVID-19 restrictions hit the Canuck Place Children’s Hospice hard, as 60 per cent of its income comes from donors, said Denise Praill, the hospice’s chief development officer.
“Fundraising is absolutely affected,” she said. The two, 600-person galas it holds each year were cancelled, as were donor tours and community events like golf tournaments and pub nights that raised money in the charity’s name.
“We’re really feeling the effects of not being able to hold the usual significant events,” she said.
The good news is that for those who have kept their jobs, or had their pensions unaffected, donations in some cases have increased.
“We’ve had some tremendous gifts from someone who usually gave $2,000 and this year they gave $10,000,” Praill said.
Cardus, a faith-based think-tank in Ottawa, said COVID -19 restrictions haven’t affected all Canadians equally and it estimates the wealthiest 40 per cent of Canadians, through lower expenses and less discretionary spending during the lockdown, have collectively amassed $5.3 billion.
In a report based on economic data and forecasts called the Potential to Give during the COVID-19 Pandemic, Cardus reminds Canadians that charities, artists and arts organizations that have been particularly hard-hit by the pandemic would benefit from some of those savings, particularly during a time when more disadvantaged Canadians will rely on those charities.
The report found those most financially affected by the lockdown are younger and lower-income Canadians, with 80 per cent of job losses hitting those earning salaries below the Canadian average. And one-third of those aged 20-24 lost their jobs, figures show.