Canadian donors gave almost $1000 to charity, on average, according to the 2021 What Canadian Donors Want survey, conducted by Forum Research for the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Foundation for Philanthropy – Canada and sponsored by Fundraise Up.

The survey, which featured 1,561 Canadians age 18 or older who have given to charity in the past and were surveyed in April 2021, found that 76% of respondents gave to charity over the past 12 months. Of those who gave, 49% contributed $200 or less, and 51% gave more than $200, with the average gift size being $965.

A remarkable 85% of respondents who made a contribution gave to more than one cause, with 22% giving to 4-5 charities and 23% supporting six or more causes. The top three causes for donations are children/youth issues, disease/medical conditions and food banks—with more than 30% of donors having given to those types of organizations.

Overall, Canadian donors are more confident in the charitable sector than ever before, with almost nine in ten respondents (87%) saying they’re confident in the organizations that comprise the charitable sector. That figure represents a nine-point increase from 2017. In addition, confidence in the charitable sector is significantly higher than confidence in the private sector (69%) or the public sector (65%).

In contrast to increases in giving, volunteering rates among donors were much lower. Just 23% of respondents indicated they had volunteered over the past 12 months, and those who did spent an average of 71 hours in volunteer service.

The most common reason for not volunteering was related to COVID-19—57% of respondents mentioned this reason when asked why they did not volunteer. Other common reasons were not having time (33%), contributing to charity in other ways (22%) and not knowing where to volunteer or how to start (11%).

Click here to read all the findings, including on perceptions of the charitable sector and plans for future giving.