Decline in Religious Attendance a Challenge for Charities

In 2014, Canadians gave over $14.3 billion to charity. That’s good news, and worth celebrating.

But there are worrisome signs ahead. Today, fewer Canadians are making donations, and the future is of giving uncertain.

That’s the conclusion of a new report from Imagine Canada titled “30 Years of Giving in Canada.”

The report, which uses taxfiler data to explore how giving has changed over the past three decades, found the number of Canadian taxfilers claiming a charitable deduction is falling.

In 2015 20.9 percent of taxfilers claimed a deduction, compared to 25.1 percent ten years earlier. In 1989 that figure was over 29 percent.

it also found the size of donations is decreasing. Baby boomers give less than their parents. And it appears their children and grandchildren will give less than them, too.

The report concludes that charities will need to find new ways to engage younger people—before it’s too late.

“The Boomer generation, which has been the mainstay of the charitable sector for the past 30 years, is aging,” the report states.

“There is a limited amount of time to tap into the philanthropic impulses of this generation and it is unclear if younger generations will take their place.”

I contacted Bruce MacDonald, President and CEO of Imagine Canada, to get his take on the challenges and opportunities facing the charitable sector today.

“The data is crystal clear,” he says. “The population that does the most giving is getting older.”

These loyal and regular givers are keeping charities alive today, he adds, “but they are aging out, they are literally dying.”

At the same time the best givers are getting older, “the data shows the number of donors is dropping and the percent of tax filers [claiming a charitable donation] is going down.”

It’s like a pipeline, he says. At one end is a bulge of older donors and boomers. At the other end, however, where younger people should be, “the pipeline isn’t full. Instead, it’s shrinking.”

It’s not that younger people aren’t interested in making the world a better place, he states. “They have social justice coded into their DNA.”

But how will they learn about the importance of donating, not just signing petitions or marching for justice?

That's where faith comes in, MacDonald says.

“When I talk to older Canadians about where they learned to give and be generous, many cited their churches or other places of worship,” he shares of how they learned about giving as children.

“That’s where they learned the value of giving, the importance of volunteering and being an active community member.”

But with fewer people—especially fewer younger people—going to places of worship on a regular basis, he wonders where that modelling for giving will take place today.

If people no longer learn about giving at places of worship, he asks, “how do we create new social norms around giving?”

“Liking something on social media isn’t the same as putting money in the collection plate,” he states. 

In its report, Imagine Canada notes that “giving is a learned behavior. Canadians who participate in giving or volunteering activities when they are young . . . are more likely to donate as adults.”

With attendance at worship services dropping, where will the next generation learn to be givers?

Charities—and Canadian society at large—will need to figure that out, and quick. Or, as MacDonald puts it, “we will all be in trouble in the future.”

From the April 21 Winnipeg Free Press. Download the full 30 Years of Giving in Canada here.

Giving for Relief & Development is Up, But Why? And Who is Doing the Giving?

In a previous post, I noted that between 2000-13 there was an increase in the number of Canadians donating to international relief and development.

In that time frame, 1.2 million more people made a donation to an international NGO (from 1.9 million to 3.1 million).

By 2013, 10% of donations were going to international relief and development, up from 5% in 2000.

That made it the fourth most popular cause in terms of giving, after religion, health and social services.

What accounts for the increase? I have a few ideas.

One reason is growing need, both in Canada and around the world—earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, typhoons, hurricanes and hunger emergencies have been in the headlines.

Another reason is that NGOs are getting better at fundraising and marketing.

In the 1980s, when I started in the sector, there were very few fundraisers and virtually no marketers or marketing campaigns.

To be honest, fundraising was considered sort of grubby and dishonorable, a dark and unseemly art.  

Things are very different now. Every NGO employs people today whose main task is to ask for money, and many have sophisticated marketing campaigns. (Bought a goat or chicken recently?)

Then there are the government matches for humanitarian disasters.

Since the first 1:1 match in 2004 following the southeast Asia tsunami, there have been 13 matches to date. Altogether, they have raised over $600 million from Canadians for disasters around the world.

It’s no surprise they’ve worked so well; Canadians love a deal. The prospect of seeing a donation doubled is very appealing.

The rise of social media might have helped, too; it’s never been easier to share information about needs in the developing world.

Anyone else have other reasons to suggest?

Who is Giving?

That’s the why for giving to international causes, but who is giving? What characteristics do they have?

According information supplied by David Lasby of Imagine Canada, the significant predictors of the likelihood of donating to International causes include age, level of education, marital status and religiosity.

As for age and marital status, research shows that married people (or those in long-term committed relationships) and older people give more to charity in general. 

But why to they also give more to international causes? Maybe it's just because married and older people give more, period, and NGOs are among the beneficiaries. (But if anyone has another answer, let me know.) 

In the end, there aren’t huge variances for age and marital status; the groups are separated by only a few percent. (Although older people tend to make larger donations.)

The bigger differences are in education and religion.

It’s no surprise that people with higher educations donate to international causes; they are likely more aware of events in the world.

But what about religion—why is that a predictor?

There are at least two reasons.

First, religion teaches that people have a duty or obligation to help the needy. And almost every major religion subscribes to some form of what Christians call the Golden Rule (treat others they way you want to be treated).

And as a 2017 Angus Reid survey discovered, religiously committed Canadians are twice as likely as others to say “concern for others” is one of the most important things for them.

Second, places of worship regularly tell attenders about the needs of the world, through pastoral prayers, sermons, sharing, Christian education classes or before the offering.

Church mailboxes for members are also filled with appeals from groups that churches support.

This correlation between religiosity and giving is supported by research from Statistics Canada, which also found that religiously-active people also donate far more than others ($1,004 vs. $313, 2010 figures).

But here’s the thing about religion and education; while the number of people attending university has grown since 2000 (currently holding around 2 million students a year), the number of people who attend religious services is falling.

Indeed, the fastest growing “religion” in Canada today is the “nones”—people who, when asked which religion they affiliate with, say “none of the above.”

That figure stands at 24%, up from 1% in 1961. Most of these “nones” are younger people.

Since there is a strong correlation between attendance at worship services and donating for relief and development (or giving and volunteering in general), decreasing attendance is a worrisome thing for NGOs (church and non-church alike, since religious people also give outside their church groups).

So while NGOs can celebrate the rise in giving to international relief and development, there are some danger signs on the horizon.

Graphs courtesy of David Lasby of Imagine Canada. Photo at top: Somali family, 2011. Credit Frank Spangler, ADRA.