Canadians keep giving despite economy

Canadians truly are a giving people.  Charitable donations for 2010 are up 6.5% from 2009 at just under $8.3 billion.

At the same time, the number of donors increased 2.2% to just over 5.7 million with the baby boomers leading the way.  The trend toward giving amongst donor’s age 55+ is very strong and rising; accounting for 45% of all gifts or $3.7 million.  Given our aging population and current levels of giving, it is reasonable to expect that total donations from this age category will continue to rise as more baby boomers enter retirement.

Although a recent BMO study found that almost 70 per cent of Canadians have made a charitable donation in the past 12 months; nationally, just 23.4% of all taxfilers claimed charitable donations on their tax return.  The taxfiler number may be lower due to one spouse claiming the tax credit for charitable donations, but the discrepancy highlights that it is important to make people aware of the tax and financial benefits of giving as well as the social and emotional benefits.