CanadaHelps today released a year-end report card highlighting the ways Canadians have stepped up to help charities in 2021. As of November 30, 2021, donations through CanadaHelps totalled $304 million. This represents a year-over-year increase of 6.9%, which is a significant drop compared to the tremendous growth in online giving seen in year one of the pandemic (116% year-over-year increase), and below the pre-pandemic growth rate of 21% in 2019. The softening of growth in online giving comes at a time when demand for charity services is rising, and 42% of charities are not able to meet the current level of demands.
Despite these challenges, CanadaHelps observed five positive giving trends this year:
- More Canadians Made Multiple Donations: Donors making two or more donations on CanadaHelps.org increased by 87.2% versus last year.
- Monthly Giving is on the Rise: The number of Canadians that established monthly giving plans increased by 23.6%. Monthly gifts now make up 10.3% of total donations.
- More Donors are Leveraging the Extra Tax Benefits of Security Donations: Donations of securities, including stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, increased by 52% and have raised 99% more in donations versus last year. Securities represent 7.3% of total donations.
- Younger Donors Emerge: Of the 12% of Canadians that have increased the amount of money they donated to charity amid the pandemic, 17% are younger Canadians (aged 18-34) — that’s more than any other age group.
- Charities and Donors Demonstrated Great Resilience: Charities launched new virtual and hybrid fundraising strategies to replace in-person events and Canadians responded. Ticketed events this year grew by 49% while revenue from charity walks, runs, and other “thons” increased by 52%.
Further insights on online giving trends are available here.
