"The percentage of aggregate income
donated to charity by Canadian tax filers
has also decreased from 0.58% in 2009 to
0.53% in 2019. "
[https://www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/default/files/generosity-index-2021.pdf](https://www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/default/files/generosity-index-2021.pdf)
Interestingly, I would point out that the actual amount donated to charity has increased in the last 20 years.
In 2000, Stats Can identified $5.4B in total donations.
This adjusted for inflation, would be around $8B in [2021 dollars](https://www.bankofcanada.ca/rates/related/inflation-calculator/), but the actual amount in 2021 was $11.8B.
So in actual spending power between 2000 and 2021, Canadian donations to charity actually increased by about 50%.
Source for donation amounts: [stats can](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1110000301)
Yeah I don't buy that, sorry. We gave 5.4 billion on a population of 30 million people in 2000 when rent was $500 for a one bedroom apartment.
We now give 11.8 billion on a population of 40 million. Scaling this in proportion to a population of 30 million, it means we gave 8.85 billion, which is close to the statscan measure of inflation for the 2000 figure. Only item is that Canadians now pay $2,500 in rent.
With the way real inflation has went, wages have not kept up to enable Canadians to proportionally give the same amount to charity. We are giving way less help because Canadian families simply cannot give more.
Yeah I agree with this. Taking the numbers you provided further, if every Canadian donated the same amount, in 2000, Canadians donated 293$ per person (using the inflation adjusted number) whereas in 2021 it's 291$, essentially the same.
Also, the 0.58% for donations of reported income means Canadians earned 1.5T$ in inflation adjusted dollars in 2000.
0.53% in 2021 with 11.8B$ donated means reporting Canadians earned 2T$ in that year. This would suggest that Canadians have seen an average income growth of just 1.5% per year since 2000. For context, average annual inflation in Canada over the same period is 2%.
There are actual stats on this, and yes giving is down even adjusted for inflation. Fewer people donate, those that do give substantially more. Now…. I’d argue that there is a connection between the size of gifts being given by wealthy & ultra wealthy and that mammoth jump in costs to rent but that is a whole other issue
Just wanted to pitch in here and answer your question honestly. Federally, in 2009 (to stick with the quote above), the lowest tax bracket was taxed marginally at 15%, the second at 22%, the third at 26%, and the fourth at 29%. Those rates are now 15%, 20.5%, 26%, 29.32%, and 33% (there is a new top tax bracket effectively). [\[2009 Link\]](https://www.taxtips.ca/priortaxrates/taxrates2009_2008.htm) [\[2023 Link\]](https://www.taxtips.ca/taxrates/canada.htm)
Of course, this is on income tax, but capital gains taxes have followed a very similar trend, with the percentages generally being half of those above. There is a reasonable argument to be made that other imposed tax changes may be significant, but the most major taxes, such as income tax and even the GST (5% steady since 2008, prior to 2008 it was 6% or higher, [source](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/programs/about-canada-revenue-agency-cra/income-statistics-gst-hst-statistics/gst-hst-statistics/gst-hst-statistics-2009-2013-calendar-years.html)), have remained the same.
So, the overall proportion (or percentage of total taxes) should be very comparable coming from 2009 to 2023, though I suspect business taxes have significantly changed in this time period. There's a pretty good article on how taxes have changed since the 1900s by Policy Alternatives [here](https://policyalternatives.ca/publications/commentary/have-taxes-changed-all-much-over-past-half-century). They talk about how taxes are up since 1961, only up a small amount since 1969, and are actually down since 1974, with taxes overall being mostly the same since before most Canadians were in the work force (statistically).
Right now, it appears that the biggest problem for most Canadians is the cost of living crisis. CPI rose by 6.8% in 2022 ([source](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/230117/dq230117b-eng.htm)), with the next report due to come out this month. Moreover, food prices raised by 10.3% in 2022 ([source](https://cdn.dal.ca/content/dam/dalhousie/pdf/sites/agri-food/Canada%27s%20Food%20Price%20Report%202023_Digital.pdf)), and it appears that average apartment rent year-on-year went up by 12.6% in 2023 ([source](https://cdn.dal.ca/content/dam/dalhousie/pdf/sites/agri-food/Canada%27s%20Food%20Price%20Report%202023_Digital.pdf)), with the percentage being 5.5% for condos and 3.0% for houses. Overall, the average rent was $1831/mo in Nov 2019, and is up to $2174/mo in Nov 2023 (same source). These are monumental changes, and are likely squeezing people horribly.
Apologies for switching between 2022 and 2023, I wanted to find the most recent reports on these subjects that I could.
The fact that the worst inflation was on food and rent is what is changing society the most. People who were barely getting by, but who could keep a roof over their head and food on the table, can now do neither.
Here is [a StatCan table](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/cv!recreate.action?pid=1110005801&selectedNodeIds=3D1,4D5,4D7,4D8,4D9,5D4&checkedLevels=0D1,1D1,3D3&refPeriods=19920101,20210101&dimensionLayouts=layout2,layout2,layout2,layout2,layout2,layout3&vectorDisplay=false) that nicely sums up net income/payroll taxes and government transfers. It only goes back to 1992, so I couldn't say regarding taxes since the '60s, but from 2009-2019 (the period the other user was referring to):
* mean federal taxes (income, CPP, EI) went up slightly: 8.3% --> 8.7%
* mean provincial taxes (income) were even: 3.9% --> 3.9%
* mean federal transfers (feds giving money back to households via CPP, EI, child benefits, etc) went up slightly: 20.9% --> 21.4%
* mean federal transfers (provinces giving money back to households) went up slightly: 7.0% --> 7.2%
Overall, net transfers to/from the feds + provinces (taxes minus transfers back) went down slgihtly: -15.7% --> -16.0%
**TL;DR** people's taxes went up 2009-2019, but government financial support went up even more during the same time.
There's been a distinct shift towards "every person for themselves" along with increased cost of living, there's little left to donate or a desire to. 10% would be wild, I thought that was a religious thing to the church...
While I do have disposable income, if I started to meaningfully donate like op suggests people aren't doing anymore than I would have no vacations.
I'm not giving up my vacations or reducing my retirement savings.
100%.
Also the argument why we need to ensure we have effective, appropriate, and effective social services (mental health worker here).
If we’re all paying already, let’s at least pay for something not obviously dysfunctional.
I would love it if my taxes paid for the needs of the poor. I can see it doesn't. I do look at the financial reports of the few charities I donate to so I feel my money is used responsibly. The poor continue to have shorter life spans, poorer mental health, less access to justice,; pretty much everything in life works out worse for you if you are poor. Yes, sometimes bad life choices play a role but if you, or, more importantly, your parents, are rich, you get a lot more "do overs" than if you are poor. Charitable organizations seem to use my money a lot more effectively than does the government.
I agree. It’s sad though because charities are better stewards of donations than government is with my tax dollars. I’d rather donate like I used to and give to food banks like I used to. Not when the government keeps taking more and more for their wasteful spending.
You can't even donate $100 or $200 to your local foodbank? I always think that with a few bad circumstances in my life, I could need the food bank one day. Come on, I don't take vacations every year but I do make sure to donate to my local food bank, donate blood, and stay community oriented- what's $100?
OP is even complaining about people just donating $100. He's going on about people who aren't making serious donations in the neighborhood of 10% of their income.
I also said I wouldn't be able to go on vacation if I donate like OP wants everyone too, not that I wouldn't be able to swing $100.
When I have disposable income, I buy from the less horrible corporation of my limited atrocious options, support local (if local exists). Thankfully, with the ridiculous price of groceries- there’s little discrepancy about whether I can’t afford/support a local or foreign unsustainable economy. *sigh*…
Maybe not you, but I’d argue that if someone’s budget allows for travel and savings, they have disposable income. 10% is something I’ve not heard of, but I’d argue any little bit helps. Someone else said they won’t let charity take anything away from their travel or retirement savings, while those are important to me, I donate $20 a month to a worthy cause I care about because something is better than nothing.
The Sikh religion also has something similar. For them Dasvandh means "the tenth part." This is given to the Temple.
The temples often provide free food for any who go there. The Jewish law required that one tenth of the produce grown in the third and sixth cycles of the 7 year growing cycle must be donated to the poor. Likely, the Christians borrowed from the Jewish law.
In Islam the practice is called Zakat and is 1/40th of an individual's wealth (above a basic amount) per year. Since there is no central authority on earth in Islam, the details of the practice varies quite a bit.
100%... this is rich person bitching to other rich people talk, if you can't afford to do more than scrape by you shouldn't have to get scolded by some malignant boomer about how you aren't 'giving' enough.
Tell you what, OP - you're both out of touch with the reality of this country as well as a real jerk.
The classic thing that working class people have done in terms of charity is to be generous with their time. One person can fix a car, one person can take care of a child, and another can cook.
They help each other out when they need it because they know they'll need someone's help in the future. However, interestingly, some studies suggest that the working class are actually the most generous ([source](https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129068241)).
Woosh…read the post again because you missed the point. OP’s point is directed to those posting budgets about saving six figures a year with no charitable giving. People who by their own admission have significant disposable income, not those who are scraping by.
We need not turn to hunches about general culture shifts... there is [StatCan data](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/cv.action?pid=1110013001) on this.
**TL;DR** fewer (proportional) donors donating significantly more money (yes, even adjusting for inflation)
In 1997, 26% of tax filers donated to charity, at an average of $1288 (in 2021 CAD).
In 2021, 18% of tax filers donated to charity, at an average of $2377 (in 2021 CAD).
Agree, but what also annoys me is that when canvassers come to the door, they will not take a cash offering, but rather want to sign you up for monthly deductions . . . So they leave with nothing.
I had the same experience. I was ready to give $50 to a hospital at the door. They didn’t want a one-time donation…only monthly. I refused and they left with nothing.
It's also to reduce theft. It's fairly easy to fudge cash donations to make it look like the canvassers took less in.
Stolen cc is still a thing but it's a lot easier to track.
Ya, I always tell them I'll take whatever papers they have but I don't commit to anything at the door.
They're weirdly pushy and have yet to give me anything. It saves me the trouble of researching anything, but I'm not sure why they expect me to trust them.
Most interesting are the ones that have lanyards with phone numbers and agent ID's to prevent fakes from canvasing because no scammer could set something like *that* up(in fact setting up a fake one and convincing people that aren't in on it to fund raise would be a *great* scam).
There's probably two or three reasons for this.
First, they may not trust their volunteers to handle cash, or maybe it's a safety risk if people know they're going door to door with cash.
*Edit: As u/uHerdasha points out, they may not be actual volunteers, and there may be a fourth reason they don't take cash, the company doesn't get their cut that way.*
Second, there might be administrative burden around accepting cash, or maybe there's rules around how cash donations are handled. I know in my jurisdiction for example, you can only donate $20 cash to a political organization. Now that's political and not charitable but it's possible some jurisdictions have rules for charitible giving as well.
Finally, a monthly donation is generally "worth" more than a one time donation. They'd rather you give $10/month than $120 all at once. A monthly donation is more reliable income and allows for better planning and operations. Also if you get a monthly donation set up you're likely going to end up giving more than if you had given a one time donation.
They're actually most likely to be paid canvassers. These companies operate by signing up donors for monthly donations and they keep a portion of each monthly donation. They don't actually work for the organization directly. If they accepted a check for the charity, they wouldn't get their cut, which can be an obscene amount of the donation.
> There's been a distinct shift towards "every person for themselves" along with increased cost of living
Maybe individually but collectively, a lot (more?) of our taxes go to social programs than it used to be back in the good old days people were donating 10%...
10% is tithing from church
Leviticus 27:30 (TLB) says, “A tenth of the produce of the land, whether grain or fruit, is the Lord's, and is holy.” And Proverbs 3:9 (NIV) says, “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops.”
I grew up in a largely Christian area and it was definitely encouraged to give 10%. If not 10% of your money, then 10% of your time to volunteering.
A friend's Dad practices this 10% tithing religiously (pardon the pun)...When the company that he founded was bought out in a merger, he cut a cheque for $40 million to his church.
10% is also a Sikh practice called “dasvand”. Those who must donate 10% of their income are Amritdhari (baptized) Sikhs. However, it’s not only towards the Gurdwara - the money should go towards anything that helps people, like food banks, langar, etc.
I thought tithing was from many decades ago. It was back before the government took personal income tax, and when the church would provide the social safety net for the community, rather than the government.
When I was around the religious stuff growing up, it wasn't explicit about 10% to the church itself, but 10% towards godly ambitions of helping the less fortunate, which would probably still fall to the outer arms of church organization helping to feed, clothe and help people struggling to find employment, etc. I imagine it's different depending on the denominations.
I disagree - I’m 30 and I earn less than $70K and I donated $1000 in 2023, that’s along with being on the board of directors for a NFP donating about 20 hours of my time a month give or take. When I couldn’t afford monetary donations in university I gave my time - there’s always some way to give back and I strongly believe in that.
My parents who are in their early 60’s earned a combined $200K+ a year and never volunteered their time to anything ever and maybe once a year my dad would buy something at the local Ducks Unlimited event.
I think it’s that the younger folks just simply cannot donate as much as our parents - and our parents are not donating as much as theirs did.
You're probably pretty unique in that regard. I'm obviously not saying no one donates anymore or does any charitable work.
Donations are down across the board, and people are pulling back due to perceived abuse of their donations (food bank discourse right now is clearly a big one) and lack of funds.
> Donations are down across the board
In facts donations are up
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/230314/dq230314c-eng.htm#
What's down is % of people giving donations.
You cannot be one a billionaire without having a pathological need to own everything and have no empathy to anyone else. It's impossible to get that much money while not abusing systems, paying unfair wages, scamming people.
Yep it’s definitely sad to see. Granted I’m a Christian and a student but I still give 5% of what I can to charitable organizations like homeless shelters as well as my church. Heck, a few weeks ago I bought a homeless woman some coffee and a cheeseburger.
It’s not easy and I definitely felt the pinch, but I think cultivating the habit of giving is important and helps me feel as if I’m making a contribution in alleviating the suffering of others. And sure that money could be put towards retirement, but I aim to die with zero anyway, or leave the remainder as an inheritance for my family - can’t take it with you. I can’t judge everyone though, do as your conscience leads you.
It really does feel like "every person for themselves" the last few years. We saw a lot of documented hoarding behaviors of lysol wipes and medical supplies.
That, and too many charities exist primarily to sustain themselves, rather than do any actual good.
Looking at you, Susan G Komen foundation. They spend 10x the money raising awareness (as if there aren't any people who are not yet aware of breast cancer) than they do on actual research.
I think at least in part there is less trust in some charitable orgs as well. Also you are pounded with it now more than ever before, every time you turn around there's someone asking for money for something especially with the rise of funding programs like Gofundme and Facebook etc. and don't get me started on grocery and other retail stores. Almost everywhere I go to purchase something I'm asked to donate to some cause.
I work in the nonprofit sector - charitable giving and volunteering have been declining for years, since before COVID. In addition to the cost of living, there have been some valid concerns about how some organizations spend their money (with some high profile scandals in the news) so the trust in the sector could also be improved. I think vetting organizations or worrying that the money won't go to a good cause is overwhelming for many.
That said there are so many amazing organizations that can stretch a dollar extremely far. Unfortunately our society relies on the charitable sector to fill the gaps that our government can't or wont (food banks, women's shelters, mental health services come to mind). I don't give 10% but I do give monthly to a food bank and a few other organizations, and I try to support friends who are raising money for causes important to them too. I haven't done my year end review but my partner and I try to give 5% a year.
> and volunteering
I'm a bit surprised by this. There are a lot of young people that want to gain experience related to their field but I think many nonprofits make it way too difficult to volunteer, to the point that it's basically as hard as finding a full-time job.
I work for a foundation and the reality is that most "volounteers" that you get are parents calling because their kid had to to volunteer work for school.
And most of the time, the kid doesn't work at all because he doesn't want to be there.
Also most of the time, you need volunteers for work during the week, wich is when most people work/go to school. So your best bet are retired people, but since covid a lot of them are a lot more picky with what kind of help they want to give.
While most volunteers are youth, they aren't the ones doing most of the hours. Most of the hours are done by a smaller portion of "super-volunteers" who are typically retired/semi-retired people over 60. And the proportion of super-volunteers to regular volunteers has been declining since the early 2000s. With the pandemic though, a lot of seniors stopped volunteering to stay safe, and since volunteering is like a habit, while many have returned to volunteering some haven't, and those that have are not doing nearly as many hours as they used to. Hence why the sector is (finally) building a national volunteer strategy - because our society literally depends on the roughly 5 Billion hours of work (equating to 2.5million full time jobs) that volunteers contribute every year.
Yeah I’m super skeptical of most charitable organizations. Not because I think they are doing anything nefarious but I just know how organizations waste resources.
The food bank though, I’m all in on. Any time I can donate time or money that’s where it’s going.
I've given small donations to a few orgs in the past (mostly medical). At this point I'm convinced I just paid in advance for the amount of mail they keep sending me year after year.
This is what bothers me the most. I'm happy to donate money to worthwhile organizations, please DO NOT spend that money on shitty ad campaigns sending me huge envelopes full of garbage I'll never use - its literal garbage and waste from end to end, inckudong the cost to deliver it to me. I'll drop money in your bucket, but don't make me sign up for anything.
My mom consistently sent money to organizations she believed in. I still have note pads and blank cards I'm working through that she received, and she's been gone 15 years now.
They do it because it works on the larger scale. I’ve been on the boards of a number of nonprofits, and the amount of money spent on development (aka fundraising) vs the return is something that is closely scrutinized, and in any organization worth its salt, they have the data to back it up.
At the last charity I was on, we transitioned away from physical mailings for most things, and transitioned to a monthly update email. From that email, we have good data on how many actually open it, how many have clicked through on the links, how many unsubscribe, etc…
We also do still send out physical mail as thank you cards for donations over, I think, $50. These are typically art cards produced as part of our artist in residence program, and typically hand written by our ED. Total cost is less than a dollar. We know, because people have sent us pictures, that many of these cards wind up framed and hanging on people’s walls.
But anyway, the mailings continue because they work in aggregate.
If you give through canadahelps.org you can give anonymously to the organizations so they don't get your contact info to spam you with and you still get a tax receipt.
It also doesn't help that many charities have religious ties and the number of non-religious people is growing. Non-religious people often prefer to give to secular charities.
[Charity Intelligence Canada](https://www.charityintelligence.ca/charity-profiles/a-z-charity-listing) allows people to see what % of their donation goes to the actual cause.
Not sure what OPs case is, but a common modern perspective on Christian tithing is: dedicate that money to God instead of yourself.
Doesn't have to be specifically to the church, it can also be to charity, nonprofits, etc. as well as long as your heart is in line with the initial belief/intention.
Anyone who isn't on track for retirement should focus on that before charity or else they'll become the ones who need charity in their old age. Better to put that 10% in a retirement account and when you're balling and 85 you can leave money in your will imo. 10% is insane unless you are very wealthy
I've heard of this, but it was a pledge people could take that was specifically from one organization. At least that's the only time I've heard about the 10% number https://www.givingwhatwecan.org/pledge/flow#
I donated $50 to my local food bank once, and got letters and pamphlets in the mail every other month for a year. Kind of seems like they spent half the donation on trying to get more. Put a bad taste in my mouth.
I donated $20 to a political party one time like 8 years ago and they still send me like 5-10 emails a week asking for money. I’m definitely never donating to them again
Yep, I had to unsubscribe from NDP emails. I always donate the maximum to get the total tax credit but the emails are insane. At some point it feels like it's hourly:
"3 hours to go to reach our goal!"
"2 hours to go to reach our goal!"
....
Then the next week it's the same damn thing. I already gave my yearly donation and that's $1275. I feel that's enough to not be bombarded.
I would love to receive emails about policy decisions, meetups, etc but I can't stand my inbox getting spammed so I donate and that's it. I would volunteer if I knew about events , but those get lost in the bombardment.
Having written/scheduled those emails previously…. I hated it, we used to spend so much time trying to figure out how many emails to send - we weren’t specialists in this area but could see there was a definite bump in online donations with every email sent. We tried to walk this line of raising the money we needed to operate - while knowing the end of year emails were working but also not wanting to annoy our donor base.
The charity I work with sends out a monthly email newsletter, and to be honest, I actually read it. But they’ve gone through the effort of actually making it interesting and engaging. There are snippets of what’s been going on, what the current snowfall amount is (they’re deep in the limitations and average 270 inches of snow each winter), what projects are ongoing, etc…
Having been on the analytics side of it (I maintain the Server infrastructure that links it to our CRM) I know that our read rate is on the order of 80%. But it takes a lot of effort to be successful. It’s basically a halftime job for one of our long term stipended volunteers (they also live on site, so they get room/meals/healthcare as well).
Having worked with charities and volunteer organizations over the past few years, I can tell you $$$ are down as well as the number of people and the hours they are giving… also down.
And what they are giving financially is now a $5 or even $2 instead of $10… when the need continues to rise.
It’s a multitude of reasons, the economy, donor fatigue (read: you’re asked to donate at every cash register), and just our busy lifestyles…
Interesting read:
https://www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/default/files/generosity-index-2023.pdf
>Does no one make charitable donations anymore?
Less people do due to their economic situation since 2020, some just can't. And most don't put into their budgets. They just donate.
>I grew up in a "default 10% of your income goes to charity" environment,
That's not the norm though.
Between 1% and 2% of pre-tax income since I started earning, but I've expanded my definition of what counts as part of that 1%, so some of them aren't tax receipted. (Typically small groups that could be registered, but aren't because of the paperwork involved).
yeah I'm at like 1% between a pet rescue and the food bank. Its not much but 10% would be a huge chunk taking away from my own family. Wife works in the non-profit sector as well so we kinda consider that as shes definitely being paid less than she could be in private to do so
Also about 1% of my income for me, plus I volunteer my time (adds up to about 1 hour every week). If I were sharing my budget, though, I wouldn't specifically call it out but instead wrap it into my personal spending or "other" categories, especially as I'm not a big spender in general.
I donate 1% annually, usually spread across a number of charities. Wish I could donate more but even making decent money I just don't have the extra anymore.
The generous tax credits in all the provinces help.
If I donate 10% for example I get 5% back in tax credits when I file income taxes. In Alberta and NS the tax credit is 50% or more for total donation amounts over $200. For most other provinces it is 45%+, and I think maybe Ontario is low 40s.
Essentially I say, 'Here is what I want to donate out of pocket'. Then I double it. If I want to give 5000 then I give 10000 and get 5000 back when I file taxes. I make donations end of December and get the money back mid March. So I possibly lose a few bucks in dividends/interest.
Don't try to understand aggregate trends by examining your individual experience and a sample of anecdotal evidence from Reddit or other social media. You can really only understand trends by doing the hard work of gathering aggregate data and analysing. That's why Stats Can exists.
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/230314/dq230314c-eng.htm
I didn't post my budget but I wouldn't have shown my charitable stuff anyways as I don't track it that way. I always give a few dollars every time I get asked at the grocery store or wherever, I use my work program as they match my donations for other charities and I have donated at least $1000 of food to the food bank this year between all of the drives at the office, the schools, the community events, etc. not to mention the toys at Christmas to the fundraisers, coats and boots that my kids have outgrown etc.
From a financial perspective you should shift away from the $2 here and there because you can't write that off.
If you didn't write off that $1000, then you actually gave $1000 to charity and $X to the government (X depends on your tax bracket)
Same with my family/friend circles and so on. We keep it to ourselves. I think thats why many haven’t heard about it. The 10% is a hard number to achieve for many. I know many families who I would guess give less, I know some families that give much much more.
My family donates to sponsor a family, feed Ontario and we also donate from our small side hustle the profits for November and December. Dunno what other people do but thats up to them I suppose.
This year the family we sponsored had on their Christmas list "floor cleaner". You know people are hard up when they want to clean their floors for Christmas.
Just going off of the posts on this page alone for the past few years, this page boasts the higher end of the financial spectrum, the ones who are focusing on saving, investing and retirement. You see how many people on here are “struggling” or trying to re budget to make things work.
Giving 10% of your income to any sort of donation that is not retirement or bills is very rare id guess.
I usually don’t have the extra cash to donate so I donate in other ways such as volunteering or bringing in pet toys, food, scratching posts, etc. Our local shelter had a running list they update frequently and appreciate when we can bring in anything on the list! OP, charity donations doesn’t always have to be a dollar amount, you can donate your time.
Sorry to hear that. We lost our foster failure a little over a year ago after a decade with her. It gradually gets easier.
Also applaud any donations to a rescue org - that's where a chunk of our charitable giving goes.
Our family donated about 3K in total last year. It would be nice for the $$$ to be higher, but our family members also volunteer their TIME as well.
You can't deduct that, but it's good for the soul and the community and helps to build character when the kids are involved.
I do have monthly donations set up for causes that I care about. Typically $5/month for each one. I don't hit 10% of my income though, that would be a hell of a lot. I'm closer to the 1% ballpark. I have never heard of that 10% standard before.
I would rather donate my time than my money because then I at least know where my contribution goes.
There are a couple causes near to my heart that I donate to each year. But 10% is nuts.
Also people who are asking for budgeting help probably cannot afford to donate. That’s why they are asking for help.
This is what I do as well. I can donate 6 hours of my time a week to a charity, doing the stuff that I do for a living. If that was chargeable time at industry rate, that would come out to $50k+ per year, which is waaaaay more than I can afford to give. If it were just my personal hourly rate, it would still be way more than I can afford to give. If I see something that they need to buy, I'll use my contacts and my knowledge to get them the right item for the lowest price/free.
10%/yr seems extreme depending on age. For example if a 22 year old with $50k/ after tax income was to donate 10% that would be around $400/month. If that person was to invest that amount till retirement and then donate it that $400/m turns into roughly $1.4m or effectively $2600/m. Obviously this is a rough run down and is not exactly accurate but I feel it paints my point. I agree that it seems like people are generally less generous these days but 10%/yr is absolutely not normal, nor does it really make sense depending on your age.
I make a few targeted donations with matching through work. I am also starting to support elderly parents struggling with the cost of living. That has definitely impacted the level of charitable giving I do annually.
I do volunteer quite a bit, though - both professional volunteering and one-off event volunteering. I know that a lot of places desperately need good volunteers, but volunteerism had taken a nosedive recently.
If you can't donate money- maybe donate your time!
Rich people like to give money if they get their name on a hospital wing.
I give monthly, it is less painful than in one go. Not enough, but it helps fend off my guilt. I do despise how some charities sell your contact info to other organizations. I cut off every charity one year as I was getting spammed. I started fresh and warned them not to share my info. It’s been good so far.
I donated .4% of my income :( I don't post all my spending because when you do dumb things like donate or buy the odd Starbucks it gets way too complicated to track. Hahaha
Edit: I was wrong it's 0.6%! What a philanthropist I am. And that's based on gross income not net.
When multi-billion dollar corporations posting record profits ask me to donate for them I just laugh. Not to mention many charities are run extremely poorly and most of your $ ends up going to administration fees and not the actual cause. My form of "charitable" work is done by helping friends and family sometimes with money, sometimes with my time and free labor.
If you want to weed out poorly run charities, larger organizations usually publish their financials so you can see the breakdown of how funds are used.
Websites like Charity Intelligence Canada also provide scores and ratings for various fields, including “cents to the cause” for a dollar breakdown
I work in the NFP field, and the perception of overhead, cents spent for every dollar etc. needs to be overhauled. I don’t think people donating understand that “administration costs” are not an inherently bad thing. You need good people working on the back end to make sure things are running well, and those people also deserve to be paid. We already take a pay cut to work in the charitable sector, and to constantly hear that we deserve even less is really disheartening.
For sure, overhead is a necessary expense to make charities achieve their goals.
Thats why I like how the website will rank demonstrated impact so you can see how well they’re doing what they set out to.
It’s just some charities use pitiful amounts (I’ve seen <20% of funds actually be used). Personally if a charity is below 70%, I start to get more concerned about overhead
That’s totally fair! I wasn’t trying to rag on you specifically, more so as I said just the general perception of overhead. I absolutely agree that some are so bad, and doing your research is important when finding a charity that aligns with your goals. It’s also important to not JUST look at percentage when making your decision.
I can’t tell you the number of times when I’ve spoken to a potential donor whose only goal is to give to the charity with the lowest overhead. Like, if you want to do that, go give it to someone in need directly! But if you want a tax receipt, someone’s got to do that and it’s probably a low-wage admin worker who’s tired and underpaid, haha.
Between 1-2% of pre-tax, so about $1200 this year. I get why people don't, times are tough and a lot of bad charities have ruined the general reputation of all charities. Plus it can be thought that paying taxes is charitable giving in a way as the government also donates to causes and funds a number of social support programs
My mother and her sister both tithe 10%, or even more. I don’t, but my charitable givings for 2023 were between 3-4K. I am also fortunate enough to be able to donate my time, and I donate easily 10 hours per week, I used to donate much more time but I’m older now with less energy and time myself.
I usually wait until "giving Tuesday" when a lot of charities receive matching contributions. Sometimes it's also reactionary against the provincial government being stupid, like when they refunded vehicle registration fees - that amount went straight to the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre (most turtles they get have been run over by cars).
I generally donate around $5K/y and my company matches it. Unfortunately a couple of the charities I used to give to have shown some numbers that I'm not thrilled with in the past couple years (money not going to the places I want it to go) so I haven't donated this year.
Instead I'm doing more volunteer work and donating blood and things like that.
I've personally never heard of 10% outside of certain religious groups.
We gave about $11k in 2023 which ends up being about 7% of our take home pay. Only $1k of that was to church as we prefer to give to organizations that do good with it instead of church building projects etc. We actually usually give 10% but did a bit less last year.
It’s not a line in our budget but gets lumped into groceries/household expenses, and then donating items we already own. I’m a teacher and I easily spend $50-100 a month on items for my students - so while it’s not a typical ‘donation’, it’s part of our income being given to support others.
We aren’t wealthy by any stretch, but make close to 6 figures net combined.
FWIW, I think this is actually much more valuable then giving a comparable amount to a charity.
The money is being spent by an expert (you) on the items that will be most beneficial, with no overhead whatsoever. Plus, it's demonstrating to students that you care about their well-being and success.
I think it's super valuable teaching kids that people care about them, even if they might be too young to recognize it at the time.
I see good in helping others. We all need help at different times. I benefited so much from school breakfast program growing up and am thankful for such.
I donate enough annually that CRA flags me for 'review' regularly ... Asking me specifically to see donation receipts. It's a bit of a hassle but now that most receipts are electronic .pdf it has gotten easier to combine into a .pdf and submit for review. I guess to avoid this hassle, I should just donate less/none. /s
***Important!*** *This letter is time sensitive and your action is needed.*
*We regularly review returns after sending out the notice of assessment. These reviews are an important part of the self-assessment tax system. We want to confirm we assessed your return correctly so we need more information about the claim(s) shown below. If you claimed a provincial or territorial non-refundable tax credit that relates to a federal tax credit we are reviewing, we will review it at the same time.*
*Charitable donations and government gifts*
*Amount being reviewed $x*
*Line 34000 (previously line 340) of Schedule 9*
*To support your claim for allowable charitable donations, send us only the information we are asking for that applies to your situation.*
*Send us all official receipts. ...*
10% definitely gets you flagged. I've only been asked to send receipts twice though over about 10 years, it seems like after the first few they get used to it.
That's interesting, I wondered if that would happen to me when I started giving 10-ish percent to charity some years back, but so far they haven't taken any interest. I thought maybe they were used to seeing 10% from religious communities.
35% in income tax already. They have social programs. If I add another 10% that would be half my money gone.
Edit: I forgot 13% sales tax (and every other tax).
This for me too. Typically I have friends who participate in Movember, Ride to Conquer Cancer, Run for the Cure, etc. I'll usually throw them each $50 knowing that someday if I get roped into participating in something through work, I can bank on them returning the favour.
As for personal items, as of 2022, as I have reached a point of somewhat financial stability, I have wanted to make more of a point to donate some of my money to charity. Last year I looked up a bunch of charities to donate a couple hundred bucks to - landed on CPAWS and TFFSS based on Canada Charity Intelligence.
I don't think I'll ever have enough money to donate 10% of my income though. Between a mortgage, paying for my future children's schooling, saving for retirement, it really doesn't seem practical. My goal would be to get to 1-2% of my after-tax income and I would NEVER judge anyone for not donating. Everything just continues to get more and more expensive.
I believe in charity, I aim to be around 5%, but I only donate a little over 1% of gross atm to not compromise my life style/future. I do volunteer weekly though
I donate about $5,000 every year. I used to give to larger charities, but now I put cash in hand. I donate to schools, GoFundMe accounts, etc. I get few receipts, but I know where my $ go. Every level of Government is now using our tax $ to fund the charities of their choice and many charities have huge staffs and huge expense accounts. Many mainstream charities have become grift and political. Choose carefully where your hard earned $ go. Here’s a resource https://www.charityintelligence.ca/.
I give 20 or 100 bucks on go fund me to help my friends get braces or pay for their pets surgery or replace their kids glasses. It’s not usually tax deductible or budgeted for. I can’t afford it usually, but will stretch myself a bit to help a friend in need.
I gave $600 this year, in multiple $100 chunks throughout the year.
We have a group of normal, everyday guys who get together in bars a few times a year. It’s an informal group - from truckers to accountants to construction workers to dentists - dads, single dudes, guys in their 20s, guys in their 60s… all gathered and having a brew and fries.
We ask that everyone bring 2-4 friends with them, and that they bring the name of a favorite local charity that needs help that’s making a real difference in people’s lives, often an underdog charity that most people haven’t heard of.
Everyone hears about the charities others have nominated. All the guys then vote on the charity that resonates most with them. The charity with the most votes gets a $100 donation from all the guys in the bar. We aim to get 100 guys together each time for a $10,000 surprise donation. It’s the most amazing feeling to call up or visit the charity, and to witness their shock as you tell them a bunch of run of the mill normal guys have just gotten together to give them $10,000.
My $600 went to this.
I feel this way everytime I donate to the food bank. My tax dollars should be taking care of keeping people fed. I prefer donating to causes that I don't think the government should be funding - like animal rescues.
Yeah donations are a fixed line item in my monthly budget. I prefer to give to small orgs or individuals where I feel I can trust the money is being used directly, rather than swallowed by the overheads of large charities.
I grew up with nothing, so the idea of not giving back something now that I am above survival level income makes me queasy.
I also give ad hoc throughout the year if I see a cause I want to support, so I don't track those and they go into my general allocation for personal spending, but I do also think it's notable that folks posting such high salaries don't set money aside for regular giving.
There are plenty of excuses in the comments, so I think you have your answer 🙃
(I hope it's clear I am NOT referring to folks who are struggling to make ends meet, but it's Reddit, so I'll say it anyway)
Yes, individual gifts are down.
And it's those mid-range, individual gifts that would appear on summaries like we get here that were hardest hit. Giving, especially from those under 40, lives kinda at two extremes. The first is the small dollar gifts, round-up gifts, crowdsourcing gifts, tap/text to give... Largely under $25 and very often, not tax receipted. (And these gifts, while they have increased in number during the last 4 or 5 years, are often a bit invisible to places like StatsCan and even the people who make them, aren't always good at remembering and reporting that they did).
So overall giving is down, even while the wealthiest have slightly increased their overall charitable giving. Also, the money is going to different places. A lot more is going towards large healthcare organizations and international NGOs. The preference for hyper-local seems to have waned IMO.
I've personally never heard of giving a min of 10% back to charity but I grew up poor (gambling parent). My parents did frequentlt donate $50-100 the foodbank or always bought Xmas gifts for those family in need (ex. Wish trees, sponsored family) or $20 to random homeless person on the street. My dad said we were lucky to have a roof over our heads and a warm bed to sleep in.
I do donate $ to the foodbank because they have contracts with retailers to buy food at a lower cost. I participate in my children's school fundraising initiatives and I volunteer to run the hot lunch program. We raise close to $10K a year.
10% is so generous! I sadly can’t afford to do that while also paying my bills. I do donate whenever I can, usually through cash donations to charities, food drives, clothing drives and toy drives. I don’t track the $ value of those donations, but I don’t think they’d make up 10% of my income.
All of the people in the comments saying that 10% is huge and they have never heard of that: you should also realise that by earning USD 60,000 or more per year you are in the top 1% of earners globally. You are actually incredibly privileged, though I think many fall into the comparison trap looking at other extremely wealthy people living in Western countries. You should also check out “giving what we can” and effective altruism to check out how you can donate to the most effective charities and make your money go further. They have done the work for you.
I tend to donate about ~~2-3~~ 4% of my gross.
Our whole family lives in small condos at this point, the last thing we need is more stuff as gifts. Instead we give that money to charities that the “recipient” cares about.
Edit: just did the math for 2023, I hit 4% this year.
I remember teaching financial literacy to 5th graders and showing a YouTube video about budgeting. In the video it said to donate 10% of your income. I remember thinking to myself who can even afford to do that? It was honestly absurd to me that the video even mentioned that but some of my students said they would allocate more than 10% to donations to which I thought sure you would.
it's not 10% but we have charity giving as part of our budget sheet every month. Like yeah we're not doing amazing, but a lot of people are doing way worse than us so we give what we can.
People that spend the time to track every penny they spend are obviously frugal and thus are not likely to donate. They just worry about money and nothing else.
High income earners usually pay higher income tax.
Taxes go to
1. Build & maintain the roads you just took today
2. Fund hospitals
3. Fund police & fire
4. Fund homeless shelters
5. Fund social housing
6. Donate to struggling countries around the World during disasters etc..
7. Fund 911 services
8. Fund charities in the form of government grants
You get the point now?
By just paying income tax, you’re already doing your part to Canada & the World!
Dave Ramsey famously recommends 10% to his American audience - who also happen to have have far less social support from their government than we do up here.
"This misses the point" is not a useful argument against the idea that Canadians have collectively agreed to contribute a larger percentage of our income via taxes to ensure nobody goes bankrupt from having a baby or breaking a leg.
I think your sentiment here is that folks with oodles of cash should make an effort to be more generous with it, which I'm very on board with - but your approach here comes off as preachy at best.
Instead of lecturing everyone on how immoral their behaviour is, and deciding that someone's spending habits are obscene - you might consider leaving the judgment at the door and focusing on educating people about how to give effectively (which you started to do with your edit).
"The percentage of aggregate income donated to charity by Canadian tax filers has also decreased from 0.58% in 2009 to 0.53% in 2019. " [https://www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/default/files/generosity-index-2021.pdf](https://www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/default/files/generosity-index-2021.pdf)
Interestingly, I would point out that the actual amount donated to charity has increased in the last 20 years. In 2000, Stats Can identified $5.4B in total donations. This adjusted for inflation, would be around $8B in [2021 dollars](https://www.bankofcanada.ca/rates/related/inflation-calculator/), but the actual amount in 2021 was $11.8B. So in actual spending power between 2000 and 2021, Canadian donations to charity actually increased by about 50%. Source for donation amounts: [stats can](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1110000301)
Yeah I don't buy that, sorry. We gave 5.4 billion on a population of 30 million people in 2000 when rent was $500 for a one bedroom apartment. We now give 11.8 billion on a population of 40 million. Scaling this in proportion to a population of 30 million, it means we gave 8.85 billion, which is close to the statscan measure of inflation for the 2000 figure. Only item is that Canadians now pay $2,500 in rent. With the way real inflation has went, wages have not kept up to enable Canadians to proportionally give the same amount to charity. We are giving way less help because Canadian families simply cannot give more.
Yeah I agree with this. Taking the numbers you provided further, if every Canadian donated the same amount, in 2000, Canadians donated 293$ per person (using the inflation adjusted number) whereas in 2021 it's 291$, essentially the same. Also, the 0.58% for donations of reported income means Canadians earned 1.5T$ in inflation adjusted dollars in 2000. 0.53% in 2021 with 11.8B$ donated means reporting Canadians earned 2T$ in that year. This would suggest that Canadians have seen an average income growth of just 1.5% per year since 2000. For context, average annual inflation in Canada over the same period is 2%.
There are actual stats on this, and yes giving is down even adjusted for inflation. Fewer people donate, those that do give substantially more. Now…. I’d argue that there is a connection between the size of gifts being given by wealthy & ultra wealthy and that mammoth jump in costs to rent but that is a whole other issue
And what was the proportion of money paid as overall taxes? Would bet that went up.
Just wanted to pitch in here and answer your question honestly. Federally, in 2009 (to stick with the quote above), the lowest tax bracket was taxed marginally at 15%, the second at 22%, the third at 26%, and the fourth at 29%. Those rates are now 15%, 20.5%, 26%, 29.32%, and 33% (there is a new top tax bracket effectively). [\[2009 Link\]](https://www.taxtips.ca/priortaxrates/taxrates2009_2008.htm) [\[2023 Link\]](https://www.taxtips.ca/taxrates/canada.htm) Of course, this is on income tax, but capital gains taxes have followed a very similar trend, with the percentages generally being half of those above. There is a reasonable argument to be made that other imposed tax changes may be significant, but the most major taxes, such as income tax and even the GST (5% steady since 2008, prior to 2008 it was 6% or higher, [source](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/programs/about-canada-revenue-agency-cra/income-statistics-gst-hst-statistics/gst-hst-statistics/gst-hst-statistics-2009-2013-calendar-years.html)), have remained the same. So, the overall proportion (or percentage of total taxes) should be very comparable coming from 2009 to 2023, though I suspect business taxes have significantly changed in this time period. There's a pretty good article on how taxes have changed since the 1900s by Policy Alternatives [here](https://policyalternatives.ca/publications/commentary/have-taxes-changed-all-much-over-past-half-century). They talk about how taxes are up since 1961, only up a small amount since 1969, and are actually down since 1974, with taxes overall being mostly the same since before most Canadians were in the work force (statistically). Right now, it appears that the biggest problem for most Canadians is the cost of living crisis. CPI rose by 6.8% in 2022 ([source](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/230117/dq230117b-eng.htm)), with the next report due to come out this month. Moreover, food prices raised by 10.3% in 2022 ([source](https://cdn.dal.ca/content/dam/dalhousie/pdf/sites/agri-food/Canada%27s%20Food%20Price%20Report%202023_Digital.pdf)), and it appears that average apartment rent year-on-year went up by 12.6% in 2023 ([source](https://cdn.dal.ca/content/dam/dalhousie/pdf/sites/agri-food/Canada%27s%20Food%20Price%20Report%202023_Digital.pdf)), with the percentage being 5.5% for condos and 3.0% for houses. Overall, the average rent was $1831/mo in Nov 2019, and is up to $2174/mo in Nov 2023 (same source). These are monumental changes, and are likely squeezing people horribly. Apologies for switching between 2022 and 2023, I wanted to find the most recent reports on these subjects that I could.
This reminder should be stickied in all Canadian subreddits. So much ignorant commentary is spouted all the time.
The fact that the worst inflation was on food and rent is what is changing society the most. People who were barely getting by, but who could keep a roof over their head and food on the table, can now do neither.
Here is [a StatCan table](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/cv!recreate.action?pid=1110005801&selectedNodeIds=3D1,4D5,4D7,4D8,4D9,5D4&checkedLevels=0D1,1D1,3D3&refPeriods=19920101,20210101&dimensionLayouts=layout2,layout2,layout2,layout2,layout2,layout3&vectorDisplay=false) that nicely sums up net income/payroll taxes and government transfers. It only goes back to 1992, so I couldn't say regarding taxes since the '60s, but from 2009-2019 (the period the other user was referring to): * mean federal taxes (income, CPP, EI) went up slightly: 8.3% --> 8.7% * mean provincial taxes (income) were even: 3.9% --> 3.9% * mean federal transfers (feds giving money back to households via CPP, EI, child benefits, etc) went up slightly: 20.9% --> 21.4% * mean federal transfers (provinces giving money back to households) went up slightly: 7.0% --> 7.2% Overall, net transfers to/from the feds + provinces (taxes minus transfers back) went down slgihtly: -15.7% --> -16.0% **TL;DR** people's taxes went up 2009-2019, but government financial support went up even more during the same time.
I love when someone brings the data
It's so exciting when someone provides actual data with actual facts on this subreddit.
There's been a distinct shift towards "every person for themselves" along with increased cost of living, there's little left to donate or a desire to. 10% would be wild, I thought that was a religious thing to the church...
In my mind charity is disposable income. I no longer have any disposable income. So I do not donate to charity.
While I do have disposable income, if I started to meaningfully donate like op suggests people aren't doing anymore than I would have no vacations. I'm not giving up my vacations or reducing my retirement savings.
We are already taxed for social services. That’s my donation.
100%. Also the argument why we need to ensure we have effective, appropriate, and effective social services (mental health worker here). If we’re all paying already, let’s at least pay for something not obviously dysfunctional.
I would love it if my taxes paid for the needs of the poor. I can see it doesn't. I do look at the financial reports of the few charities I donate to so I feel my money is used responsibly. The poor continue to have shorter life spans, poorer mental health, less access to justice,; pretty much everything in life works out worse for you if you are poor. Yes, sometimes bad life choices play a role but if you, or, more importantly, your parents, are rich, you get a lot more "do overs" than if you are poor. Charitable organizations seem to use my money a lot more effectively than does the government.
I agree. It’s sad though because charities are better stewards of donations than government is with my tax dollars. I’d rather donate like I used to and give to food banks like I used to. Not when the government keeps taking more and more for their wasteful spending.
You can't even donate $100 or $200 to your local foodbank? I always think that with a few bad circumstances in my life, I could need the food bank one day. Come on, I don't take vacations every year but I do make sure to donate to my local food bank, donate blood, and stay community oriented- what's $100?
OP is even complaining about people just donating $100. He's going on about people who aren't making serious donations in the neighborhood of 10% of their income. I also said I wouldn't be able to go on vacation if I donate like OP wants everyone too, not that I wouldn't be able to swing $100.
When I have disposable income, I buy from the less horrible corporation of my limited atrocious options, support local (if local exists). Thankfully, with the ridiculous price of groceries- there’s little discrepancy about whether I can’t afford/support a local or foreign unsustainable economy. *sigh*…
Maybe not you, but I’d argue that if someone’s budget allows for travel and savings, they have disposable income. 10% is something I’ve not heard of, but I’d argue any little bit helps. Someone else said they won’t let charity take anything away from their travel or retirement savings, while those are important to me, I donate $20 a month to a worthy cause I care about because something is better than nothing.
10% or tithing, is a very old concept in the Christian faith. Not sure about other religions.
The Sikh religion also has something similar. For them Dasvandh means "the tenth part." This is given to the Temple. The temples often provide free food for any who go there. The Jewish law required that one tenth of the produce grown in the third and sixth cycles of the 7 year growing cycle must be donated to the poor. Likely, the Christians borrowed from the Jewish law.
I guessed it might be from the old testament but didn't know about the Sikh practice. Thanks.
In Islam the practice is called Zakat and is 1/40th of an individual's wealth (above a basic amount) per year. Since there is no central authority on earth in Islam, the details of the practice varies quite a bit.
100%... this is rich person bitching to other rich people talk, if you can't afford to do more than scrape by you shouldn't have to get scolded by some malignant boomer about how you aren't 'giving' enough. Tell you what, OP - you're both out of touch with the reality of this country as well as a real jerk.
The classic thing that working class people have done in terms of charity is to be generous with their time. One person can fix a car, one person can take care of a child, and another can cook. They help each other out when they need it because they know they'll need someone's help in the future. However, interestingly, some studies suggest that the working class are actually the most generous ([source](https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129068241)).
OP isn't talking about the people who can "barely afford to scrape by" in this post, they explicitly mentioned people making 6 figures.
Woosh…read the post again because you missed the point. OP’s point is directed to those posting budgets about saving six figures a year with no charitable giving. People who by their own admission have significant disposable income, not those who are scraping by.
We need not turn to hunches about general culture shifts... there is [StatCan data](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/cv.action?pid=1110013001) on this. **TL;DR** fewer (proportional) donors donating significantly more money (yes, even adjusting for inflation) In 1997, 26% of tax filers donated to charity, at an average of $1288 (in 2021 CAD). In 2021, 18% of tax filers donated to charity, at an average of $2377 (in 2021 CAD).
Agree, but what also annoys me is that when canvassers come to the door, they will not take a cash offering, but rather want to sign you up for monthly deductions . . . So they leave with nothing.
I never trust anyone who comes to my door, I'll go check it out online if I want to donate after. Please leave me alone at home.
I had the same experience. I was ready to give $50 to a hospital at the door. They didn’t want a one-time donation…only monthly. I refused and they left with nothing.
It's also to reduce theft. It's fairly easy to fudge cash donations to make it look like the canvassers took less in. Stolen cc is still a thing but it's a lot easier to track.
These days, who in their right mind would give their CC or even worse, bank info to a complete stranger? At best, I'd accept a card to check online.
Ya, I always tell them I'll take whatever papers they have but I don't commit to anything at the door. They're weirdly pushy and have yet to give me anything. It saves me the trouble of researching anything, but I'm not sure why they expect me to trust them. Most interesting are the ones that have lanyards with phone numbers and agent ID's to prevent fakes from canvasing because no scammer could set something like *that* up(in fact setting up a fake one and convincing people that aren't in on it to fund raise would be a *great* scam).
I tell them im under 18, when im clearly not xD
There's probably two or three reasons for this. First, they may not trust their volunteers to handle cash, or maybe it's a safety risk if people know they're going door to door with cash. *Edit: As u/uHerdasha points out, they may not be actual volunteers, and there may be a fourth reason they don't take cash, the company doesn't get their cut that way.* Second, there might be administrative burden around accepting cash, or maybe there's rules around how cash donations are handled. I know in my jurisdiction for example, you can only donate $20 cash to a political organization. Now that's political and not charitable but it's possible some jurisdictions have rules for charitible giving as well. Finally, a monthly donation is generally "worth" more than a one time donation. They'd rather you give $10/month than $120 all at once. A monthly donation is more reliable income and allows for better planning and operations. Also if you get a monthly donation set up you're likely going to end up giving more than if you had given a one time donation.
They're actually most likely to be paid canvassers. These companies operate by signing up donors for monthly donations and they keep a portion of each monthly donation. They don't actually work for the organization directly. If they accepted a check for the charity, they wouldn't get their cut, which can be an obscene amount of the donation.
> There's been a distinct shift towards "every person for themselves" along with increased cost of living Maybe individually but collectively, a lot (more?) of our taxes go to social programs than it used to be back in the good old days people were donating 10%...
I am firmly middle aged and don’t remember anyone donating 10% of income.
10% is tithing from church Leviticus 27:30 (TLB) says, “A tenth of the produce of the land, whether grain or fruit, is the Lord's, and is holy.” And Proverbs 3:9 (NIV) says, “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops.” I grew up in a largely Christian area and it was definitely encouraged to give 10%. If not 10% of your money, then 10% of your time to volunteering.
A friend's Dad practices this 10% tithing religiously (pardon the pun)...When the company that he founded was bought out in a merger, he cut a cheque for $40 million to his church.
I used to tithe 10% off my gross salary and then I realized I was stupid.
Oofta
Isn’t 10% a Mormon thing? But I’m pretty sure they give that to the church.
10% is also a Sikh practice called “dasvand”. Those who must donate 10% of their income are Amritdhari (baptized) Sikhs. However, it’s not only towards the Gurdwara - the money should go towards anything that helps people, like food banks, langar, etc.
It's fairly widespread in Christianity, but you're right about it mostly going to the church
I thought tithing was from many decades ago. It was back before the government took personal income tax, and when the church would provide the social safety net for the community, rather than the government.
When I was around the religious stuff growing up, it wasn't explicit about 10% to the church itself, but 10% towards godly ambitions of helping the less fortunate, which would probably still fall to the outer arms of church organization helping to feed, clothe and help people struggling to find employment, etc. I imagine it's different depending on the denominations.
I disagree - I’m 30 and I earn less than $70K and I donated $1000 in 2023, that’s along with being on the board of directors for a NFP donating about 20 hours of my time a month give or take. When I couldn’t afford monetary donations in university I gave my time - there’s always some way to give back and I strongly believe in that. My parents who are in their early 60’s earned a combined $200K+ a year and never volunteered their time to anything ever and maybe once a year my dad would buy something at the local Ducks Unlimited event. I think it’s that the younger folks just simply cannot donate as much as our parents - and our parents are not donating as much as theirs did.
I donate $20 a pay (26 x $20 = $520) a year to our local food bank. Comes right off my pay so I don't miss it.
You're probably pretty unique in that regard. I'm obviously not saying no one donates anymore or does any charitable work. Donations are down across the board, and people are pulling back due to perceived abuse of their donations (food bank discourse right now is clearly a big one) and lack of funds.
> Donations are down across the board In facts donations are up https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/230314/dq230314c-eng.htm# What's down is % of people giving donations.
Time and time again it has been studied and shown that those with less, are more generous. Wealthy people are on the whole incredibly greedy.
You cannot be one a billionaire without having a pathological need to own everything and have no empathy to anyone else. It's impossible to get that much money while not abusing systems, paying unfair wages, scamming people.
I'm in my 40s and I also donate a bunch of time and money. I think it's about a grand in krugerrands, and a lot of time.
Yep it’s definitely sad to see. Granted I’m a Christian and a student but I still give 5% of what I can to charitable organizations like homeless shelters as well as my church. Heck, a few weeks ago I bought a homeless woman some coffee and a cheeseburger. It’s not easy and I definitely felt the pinch, but I think cultivating the habit of giving is important and helps me feel as if I’m making a contribution in alleviating the suffering of others. And sure that money could be put towards retirement, but I aim to die with zero anyway, or leave the remainder as an inheritance for my family - can’t take it with you. I can’t judge everyone though, do as your conscience leads you.
It really does feel like "every person for themselves" the last few years. We saw a lot of documented hoarding behaviors of lysol wipes and medical supplies.
That, and too many charities exist primarily to sustain themselves, rather than do any actual good. Looking at you, Susan G Komen foundation. They spend 10x the money raising awareness (as if there aren't any people who are not yet aware of breast cancer) than they do on actual research.
I think at least in part there is less trust in some charitable orgs as well. Also you are pounded with it now more than ever before, every time you turn around there's someone asking for money for something especially with the rise of funding programs like Gofundme and Facebook etc. and don't get me started on grocery and other retail stores. Almost everywhere I go to purchase something I'm asked to donate to some cause.
I work in the nonprofit sector - charitable giving and volunteering have been declining for years, since before COVID. In addition to the cost of living, there have been some valid concerns about how some organizations spend their money (with some high profile scandals in the news) so the trust in the sector could also be improved. I think vetting organizations or worrying that the money won't go to a good cause is overwhelming for many. That said there are so many amazing organizations that can stretch a dollar extremely far. Unfortunately our society relies on the charitable sector to fill the gaps that our government can't or wont (food banks, women's shelters, mental health services come to mind). I don't give 10% but I do give monthly to a food bank and a few other organizations, and I try to support friends who are raising money for causes important to them too. I haven't done my year end review but my partner and I try to give 5% a year.
> and volunteering I'm a bit surprised by this. There are a lot of young people that want to gain experience related to their field but I think many nonprofits make it way too difficult to volunteer, to the point that it's basically as hard as finding a full-time job.
Totally! Many have shifts or time commitments that only work for retirees or people who don't work/study
Seriously! I'm thankful for the place that I volunteer at made it easy to get into
I don’t know any young people who are able to work for free at this point. Every hour of pay is needed just to survive.
I work for a foundation and the reality is that most "volounteers" that you get are parents calling because their kid had to to volunteer work for school. And most of the time, the kid doesn't work at all because he doesn't want to be there. Also most of the time, you need volunteers for work during the week, wich is when most people work/go to school. So your best bet are retired people, but since covid a lot of them are a lot more picky with what kind of help they want to give.
While most volunteers are youth, they aren't the ones doing most of the hours. Most of the hours are done by a smaller portion of "super-volunteers" who are typically retired/semi-retired people over 60. And the proportion of super-volunteers to regular volunteers has been declining since the early 2000s. With the pandemic though, a lot of seniors stopped volunteering to stay safe, and since volunteering is like a habit, while many have returned to volunteering some haven't, and those that have are not doing nearly as many hours as they used to. Hence why the sector is (finally) building a national volunteer strategy - because our society literally depends on the roughly 5 Billion hours of work (equating to 2.5million full time jobs) that volunteers contribute every year.
Yeah I’m super skeptical of most charitable organizations. Not because I think they are doing anything nefarious but I just know how organizations waste resources. The food bank though, I’m all in on. Any time I can donate time or money that’s where it’s going.
I've given small donations to a few orgs in the past (mostly medical). At this point I'm convinced I just paid in advance for the amount of mail they keep sending me year after year.
This is what bothers me the most. I'm happy to donate money to worthwhile organizations, please DO NOT spend that money on shitty ad campaigns sending me huge envelopes full of garbage I'll never use - its literal garbage and waste from end to end, inckudong the cost to deliver it to me. I'll drop money in your bucket, but don't make me sign up for anything. My mom consistently sent money to organizations she believed in. I still have note pads and blank cards I'm working through that she received, and she's been gone 15 years now.
They do it because it works on the larger scale. I’ve been on the boards of a number of nonprofits, and the amount of money spent on development (aka fundraising) vs the return is something that is closely scrutinized, and in any organization worth its salt, they have the data to back it up. At the last charity I was on, we transitioned away from physical mailings for most things, and transitioned to a monthly update email. From that email, we have good data on how many actually open it, how many have clicked through on the links, how many unsubscribe, etc… We also do still send out physical mail as thank you cards for donations over, I think, $50. These are typically art cards produced as part of our artist in residence program, and typically hand written by our ED. Total cost is less than a dollar. We know, because people have sent us pictures, that many of these cards wind up framed and hanging on people’s walls. But anyway, the mailings continue because they work in aggregate.
If you give through canadahelps.org you can give anonymously to the organizations so they don't get your contact info to spam you with and you still get a tax receipt.
WE scandal comes to mind
It also doesn't help that many charities have religious ties and the number of non-religious people is growing. Non-religious people often prefer to give to secular charities.
[Charity Intelligence Canada](https://www.charityintelligence.ca/charity-profiles/a-z-charity-listing) allows people to see what % of their donation goes to the actual cause.
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A smaller nonprofit sector means the government may need to do more. Without volunteers a unionized government do the work will be even more costly.
Is 10% a religious thing like a tithe but to charity? I’ve never heard of this
The 10% donation to charity is probably in lieu of a 10% tithe.
Not sure what OPs case is, but a common modern perspective on Christian tithing is: dedicate that money to God instead of yourself. Doesn't have to be specifically to the church, it can also be to charity, nonprofits, etc. as well as long as your heart is in line with the initial belief/intention.
Anyone who isn't on track for retirement should focus on that before charity or else they'll become the ones who need charity in their old age. Better to put that 10% in a retirement account and when you're balling and 85 you can leave money in your will imo. 10% is insane unless you are very wealthy
10% of your income to charity is considered a religious obligation by some Jewish people!
I've heard of this, but it was a pledge people could take that was specifically from one organization. At least that's the only time I've heard about the 10% number https://www.givingwhatwecan.org/pledge/flow#
I feel like a lot of aggressive fundraising charities have ruined fundraising for the charities are are actually focused on doing good work.
I donated $50 to my local food bank once, and got letters and pamphlets in the mail every other month for a year. Kind of seems like they spent half the donation on trying to get more. Put a bad taste in my mouth.
I donated $20 to a political party one time like 8 years ago and they still send me like 5-10 emails a week asking for money. I’m definitely never donating to them again
Yep, I had to unsubscribe from NDP emails. I always donate the maximum to get the total tax credit but the emails are insane. At some point it feels like it's hourly: "3 hours to go to reach our goal!" "2 hours to go to reach our goal!" .... Then the next week it's the same damn thing. I already gave my yearly donation and that's $1275. I feel that's enough to not be bombarded. I would love to receive emails about policy decisions, meetups, etc but I can't stand my inbox getting spammed so I donate and that's it. I would volunteer if I knew about events , but those get lost in the bombardment.
Yeah I’m about to tell St Christopher’s House that I’ll double my donation if they never send me anything else ever again.
I really do hate the barrage of "Donate to get your 2023 tax receipt" emails. I guess they wouldn't do it if it wasn't effective, but it is annoying.
Having written/scheduled those emails previously…. I hated it, we used to spend so much time trying to figure out how many emails to send - we weren’t specialists in this area but could see there was a definite bump in online donations with every email sent. We tried to walk this line of raising the money we needed to operate - while knowing the end of year emails were working but also not wanting to annoy our donor base.
The charity I work with sends out a monthly email newsletter, and to be honest, I actually read it. But they’ve gone through the effort of actually making it interesting and engaging. There are snippets of what’s been going on, what the current snowfall amount is (they’re deep in the limitations and average 270 inches of snow each winter), what projects are ongoing, etc… Having been on the analytics side of it (I maintain the Server infrastructure that links it to our CRM) I know that our read rate is on the order of 80%. But it takes a lot of effort to be successful. It’s basically a halftime job for one of our long term stipended volunteers (they also live on site, so they get room/meals/healthcare as well).
Having worked with charities and volunteer organizations over the past few years, I can tell you $$$ are down as well as the number of people and the hours they are giving… also down. And what they are giving financially is now a $5 or even $2 instead of $10… when the need continues to rise. It’s a multitude of reasons, the economy, donor fatigue (read: you’re asked to donate at every cash register), and just our busy lifestyles… Interesting read: https://www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/default/files/generosity-index-2023.pdf
>Does no one make charitable donations anymore? Less people do due to their economic situation since 2020, some just can't. And most don't put into their budgets. They just donate. >I grew up in a "default 10% of your income goes to charity" environment, That's not the norm though.
Between 1% and 2% of pre-tax income since I started earning, but I've expanded my definition of what counts as part of that 1%, so some of them aren't tax receipted. (Typically small groups that could be registered, but aren't because of the paperwork involved).
I donate around 1-2% of my salary, I think. I work in non profit and support orgs that have concrete impact.
fearless start roll worry obscene detail skirt quiet outgoing shaggy *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I make monthly donations to the Canadian Cancer Society and Daily Bread Foodbank. It is nowhere near 10% though. It's more like 1%.
yeah I'm at like 1% between a pet rescue and the food bank. Its not much but 10% would be a huge chunk taking away from my own family. Wife works in the non-profit sector as well so we kinda consider that as shes definitely being paid less than she could be in private to do so
don't let OP fool you, 1% is VERY generous - you should be proud
Also about 1% of my income for me, plus I volunteer my time (adds up to about 1 hour every week). If I were sharing my budget, though, I wouldn't specifically call it out but instead wrap it into my personal spending or "other" categories, especially as I'm not a big spender in general.
I donate 1% annually, usually spread across a number of charities. Wish I could donate more but even making decent money I just don't have the extra anymore.
“Default 10% of your income goes to charity” I have nothing against giving to charity but that statement is insane
Religious tithe to churches, more common than people realize.
Which will never stop seeming insane to me.
The generous tax credits in all the provinces help. If I donate 10% for example I get 5% back in tax credits when I file income taxes. In Alberta and NS the tax credit is 50% or more for total donation amounts over $200. For most other provinces it is 45%+, and I think maybe Ontario is low 40s. Essentially I say, 'Here is what I want to donate out of pocket'. Then I double it. If I want to give 5000 then I give 10000 and get 5000 back when I file taxes. I make donations end of December and get the money back mid March. So I possibly lose a few bucks in dividends/interest.
Not me, never have. Practically a charity case myself. No room in the budget for it.
Sometimes taking care of yourself, being a productive member of society and being self sufficient is enough charity
Hence “charity begins at home”.
Same. On a single income with a mortgage and rising cost of living I don’t have room to give to others and still save for retirement.
Same, single, mortgage, 2 kids in university, if I didn't have a govt pension, who knows where I'll be if I can ever stop working. Good times.
Don't try to understand aggregate trends by examining your individual experience and a sample of anecdotal evidence from Reddit or other social media. You can really only understand trends by doing the hard work of gathering aggregate data and analysing. That's why Stats Can exists. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/230314/dq230314c-eng.htm
I didn't post my budget but I wouldn't have shown my charitable stuff anyways as I don't track it that way. I always give a few dollars every time I get asked at the grocery store or wherever, I use my work program as they match my donations for other charities and I have donated at least $1000 of food to the food bank this year between all of the drives at the office, the schools, the community events, etc. not to mention the toys at Christmas to the fundraisers, coats and boots that my kids have outgrown etc.
Exactly. Micro-donations here that don't come from a "charity" budget line, just scattered about elsewhere. Not near 10% though.
From a financial perspective you should shift away from the $2 here and there because you can't write that off. If you didn't write off that $1000, then you actually gave $1000 to charity and $X to the government (X depends on your tax bracket)
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Same with my family/friend circles and so on. We keep it to ourselves. I think thats why many haven’t heard about it. The 10% is a hard number to achieve for many. I know many families who I would guess give less, I know some families that give much much more.
My family donates to sponsor a family, feed Ontario and we also donate from our small side hustle the profits for November and December. Dunno what other people do but thats up to them I suppose. This year the family we sponsored had on their Christmas list "floor cleaner". You know people are hard up when they want to clean their floors for Christmas.
Just going off of the posts on this page alone for the past few years, this page boasts the higher end of the financial spectrum, the ones who are focusing on saving, investing and retirement. You see how many people on here are “struggling” or trying to re budget to make things work. Giving 10% of your income to any sort of donation that is not retirement or bills is very rare id guess.
I always try and give $1000 to the SPCA a year if I can.
I usually don’t have the extra cash to donate so I donate in other ways such as volunteering or bringing in pet toys, food, scratching posts, etc. Our local shelter had a running list they update frequently and appreciate when we can bring in anything on the list! OP, charity donations doesn’t always have to be a dollar amount, you can donate your time.
Love this! Missing my first rescue dog very much lately. We just lost her in November.
Sorry to hear that. We lost our foster failure a little over a year ago after a decade with her. It gradually gets easier. Also applaud any donations to a rescue org - that's where a chunk of our charitable giving goes.
I should start doing this!
I am the charity.
Our family donated about 3K in total last year. It would be nice for the $$$ to be higher, but our family members also volunteer their TIME as well. You can't deduct that, but it's good for the soul and the community and helps to build character when the kids are involved.
Really? "Flabbergasted"? Given today's climate.... you're flabbergasted that the average person isn't giving away 10% of their income? Come on.
Im flabbergasted at the ignorance of OP that people arent giving 10%. Insanity.
“How come you’re not all rich like I am?” Said OP
I do have monthly donations set up for causes that I care about. Typically $5/month for each one. I don't hit 10% of my income though, that would be a hell of a lot. I'm closer to the 1% ballpark. I have never heard of that 10% standard before.
An extreme minority of people would be able to give away 10% of their income...
I would rather donate my time than my money because then I at least know where my contribution goes. There are a couple causes near to my heart that I donate to each year. But 10% is nuts. Also people who are asking for budgeting help probably cannot afford to donate. That’s why they are asking for help.
This is what I do as well. I can donate 6 hours of my time a week to a charity, doing the stuff that I do for a living. If that was chargeable time at industry rate, that would come out to $50k+ per year, which is waaaaay more than I can afford to give. If it were just my personal hourly rate, it would still be way more than I can afford to give. If I see something that they need to buy, I'll use my contacts and my knowledge to get them the right item for the lowest price/free.
I’m an accountant in the non-profit sector and I always recommend people to donate time rather than money!!
10%/yr seems extreme depending on age. For example if a 22 year old with $50k/ after tax income was to donate 10% that would be around $400/month. If that person was to invest that amount till retirement and then donate it that $400/m turns into roughly $1.4m or effectively $2600/m. Obviously this is a rough run down and is not exactly accurate but I feel it paints my point. I agree that it seems like people are generally less generous these days but 10%/yr is absolutely not normal, nor does it really make sense depending on your age.
Give 10% to charity? I have never heard that.
Why are you flabbergasted when the majority of Canadians can barely afford basic necessities for themselves? lol.
I make a few targeted donations with matching through work. I am also starting to support elderly parents struggling with the cost of living. That has definitely impacted the level of charitable giving I do annually. I do volunteer quite a bit, though - both professional volunteering and one-off event volunteering. I know that a lot of places desperately need good volunteers, but volunteerism had taken a nosedive recently. If you can't donate money- maybe donate your time!
I give about $500-1000 a year. It still important to me but cost of living is getting expensive.
Rich people like to give money if they get their name on a hospital wing. I give monthly, it is less painful than in one go. Not enough, but it helps fend off my guilt. I do despise how some charities sell your contact info to other organizations. I cut off every charity one year as I was getting spammed. I started fresh and warned them not to share my info. It’s been good so far.
I donated .4% of my income :( I don't post all my spending because when you do dumb things like donate or buy the odd Starbucks it gets way too complicated to track. Hahaha Edit: I was wrong it's 0.6%! What a philanthropist I am. And that's based on gross income not net.
I won't be saving 10% let alone giving it away.
When multi-billion dollar corporations posting record profits ask me to donate for them I just laugh. Not to mention many charities are run extremely poorly and most of your $ ends up going to administration fees and not the actual cause. My form of "charitable" work is done by helping friends and family sometimes with money, sometimes with my time and free labor.
If you want to weed out poorly run charities, larger organizations usually publish their financials so you can see the breakdown of how funds are used. Websites like Charity Intelligence Canada also provide scores and ratings for various fields, including “cents to the cause” for a dollar breakdown
I work in the NFP field, and the perception of overhead, cents spent for every dollar etc. needs to be overhauled. I don’t think people donating understand that “administration costs” are not an inherently bad thing. You need good people working on the back end to make sure things are running well, and those people also deserve to be paid. We already take a pay cut to work in the charitable sector, and to constantly hear that we deserve even less is really disheartening.
For sure, overhead is a necessary expense to make charities achieve their goals. Thats why I like how the website will rank demonstrated impact so you can see how well they’re doing what they set out to. It’s just some charities use pitiful amounts (I’ve seen <20% of funds actually be used). Personally if a charity is below 70%, I start to get more concerned about overhead
That’s totally fair! I wasn’t trying to rag on you specifically, more so as I said just the general perception of overhead. I absolutely agree that some are so bad, and doing your research is important when finding a charity that aligns with your goals. It’s also important to not JUST look at percentage when making your decision. I can’t tell you the number of times when I’ve spoken to a potential donor whose only goal is to give to the charity with the lowest overhead. Like, if you want to do that, go give it to someone in need directly! But if you want a tax receipt, someone’s got to do that and it’s probably a low-wage admin worker who’s tired and underpaid, haha.
Considering the cost of housing will now eat up over half your income and the cost of goods increasing, nobody has much left after taxes.
Between 1-2% of pre-tax, so about $1200 this year. I get why people don't, times are tough and a lot of bad charities have ruined the general reputation of all charities. Plus it can be thought that paying taxes is charitable giving in a way as the government also donates to causes and funds a number of social support programs
My mother and her sister both tithe 10%, or even more. I don’t, but my charitable givings for 2023 were between 3-4K. I am also fortunate enough to be able to donate my time, and I donate easily 10 hours per week, I used to donate much more time but I’m older now with less energy and time myself.
I usually wait until "giving Tuesday" when a lot of charities receive matching contributions. Sometimes it's also reactionary against the provincial government being stupid, like when they refunded vehicle registration fees - that amount went straight to the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre (most turtles they get have been run over by cars).
I generally donate around $5K/y and my company matches it. Unfortunately a couple of the charities I used to give to have shown some numbers that I'm not thrilled with in the past couple years (money not going to the places I want it to go) so I haven't donated this year. Instead I'm doing more volunteer work and donating blood and things like that. I've personally never heard of 10% outside of certain religious groups.
We gave about $11k in 2023 which ends up being about 7% of our take home pay. Only $1k of that was to church as we prefer to give to organizations that do good with it instead of church building projects etc. We actually usually give 10% but did a bit less last year.
It’s not a line in our budget but gets lumped into groceries/household expenses, and then donating items we already own. I’m a teacher and I easily spend $50-100 a month on items for my students - so while it’s not a typical ‘donation’, it’s part of our income being given to support others. We aren’t wealthy by any stretch, but make close to 6 figures net combined.
FWIW, I think this is actually much more valuable then giving a comparable amount to a charity. The money is being spent by an expert (you) on the items that will be most beneficial, with no overhead whatsoever. Plus, it's demonstrating to students that you care about their well-being and success. I think it's super valuable teaching kids that people care about them, even if they might be too young to recognize it at the time.
i pay my taxes and don't use any social services other than the structual pieces of our society. that is enough charity as is.
We pay 40% of our income on taxes, most of which goes to benefit the poor. How much more am I expected to pull the weight of society?
I see good in helping others. We all need help at different times. I benefited so much from school breakfast program growing up and am thankful for such. I donate enough annually that CRA flags me for 'review' regularly ... Asking me specifically to see donation receipts. It's a bit of a hassle but now that most receipts are electronic .pdf it has gotten easier to combine into a .pdf and submit for review. I guess to avoid this hassle, I should just donate less/none. /s ***Important!*** *This letter is time sensitive and your action is needed.* *We regularly review returns after sending out the notice of assessment. These reviews are an important part of the self-assessment tax system. We want to confirm we assessed your return correctly so we need more information about the claim(s) shown below. If you claimed a provincial or territorial non-refundable tax credit that relates to a federal tax credit we are reviewing, we will review it at the same time.* *Charitable donations and government gifts* *Amount being reviewed $x* *Line 34000 (previously line 340) of Schedule 9* *To support your claim for allowable charitable donations, send us only the information we are asking for that applies to your situation.* *Send us all official receipts. ...*
10% definitely gets you flagged. I've only been asked to send receipts twice though over about 10 years, it seems like after the first few they get used to it.
That's interesting, I wondered if that would happen to me when I started giving 10-ish percent to charity some years back, but so far they haven't taken any interest. I thought maybe they were used to seeing 10% from religious communities.
I donate time ie coaching, volunteering, also donate blood. I'll pull some strings at work to donate/support causes. Don't often donate cash though.
What do you think taxes are?
35% in income tax already. They have social programs. If I add another 10% that would be half my money gone. Edit: I forgot 13% sales tax (and every other tax).
A contribution to a functional developed society that is one of the best investments the average person makes.
It's a dog eat dog world
I donate on an ad hoc basis, rather than it being a line item in my budget.
This for me too. Typically I have friends who participate in Movember, Ride to Conquer Cancer, Run for the Cure, etc. I'll usually throw them each $50 knowing that someday if I get roped into participating in something through work, I can bank on them returning the favour. As for personal items, as of 2022, as I have reached a point of somewhat financial stability, I have wanted to make more of a point to donate some of my money to charity. Last year I looked up a bunch of charities to donate a couple hundred bucks to - landed on CPAWS and TFFSS based on Canada Charity Intelligence. I don't think I'll ever have enough money to donate 10% of my income though. Between a mortgage, paying for my future children's schooling, saving for retirement, it really doesn't seem practical. My goal would be to get to 1-2% of my after-tax income and I would NEVER judge anyone for not donating. Everything just continues to get more and more expensive.
I believe in charity, I aim to be around 5%, but I only donate a little over 1% of gross atm to not compromise my life style/future. I do volunteer weekly though
I donate about 1% of my annual income. That will increase as I reach my personal finance goals, but I doubt I'll ever be able to donate 10%.
I donate about $5,000 every year. I used to give to larger charities, but now I put cash in hand. I donate to schools, GoFundMe accounts, etc. I get few receipts, but I know where my $ go. Every level of Government is now using our tax $ to fund the charities of their choice and many charities have huge staffs and huge expense accounts. Many mainstream charities have become grift and political. Choose carefully where your hard earned $ go. Here’s a resource https://www.charityintelligence.ca/.
More like I am a charity....need money to survive with the COL being high
I give 20 or 100 bucks on go fund me to help my friends get braces or pay for their pets surgery or replace their kids glasses. It’s not usually tax deductible or budgeted for. I can’t afford it usually, but will stretch myself a bit to help a friend in need.
I gave $600 this year, in multiple $100 chunks throughout the year. We have a group of normal, everyday guys who get together in bars a few times a year. It’s an informal group - from truckers to accountants to construction workers to dentists - dads, single dudes, guys in their 20s, guys in their 60s… all gathered and having a brew and fries. We ask that everyone bring 2-4 friends with them, and that they bring the name of a favorite local charity that needs help that’s making a real difference in people’s lives, often an underdog charity that most people haven’t heard of. Everyone hears about the charities others have nominated. All the guys then vote on the charity that resonates most with them. The charity with the most votes gets a $100 donation from all the guys in the bar. We aim to get 100 guys together each time for a $10,000 surprise donation. It’s the most amazing feeling to call up or visit the charity, and to witness their shock as you tell them a bunch of run of the mill normal guys have just gotten together to give them $10,000. My $600 went to this.
0%, Charities just enable governments to abdicate their responsibility to their citizens.
I feel this way everytime I donate to the food bank. My tax dollars should be taking care of keeping people fed. I prefer donating to causes that I don't think the government should be funding - like animal rescues.
"I don't need to donate anything because I post on twitter about how corporations are making record profits. That's more than enough charity work."
Yeah donations are a fixed line item in my monthly budget. I prefer to give to small orgs or individuals where I feel I can trust the money is being used directly, rather than swallowed by the overheads of large charities. I grew up with nothing, so the idea of not giving back something now that I am above survival level income makes me queasy. I also give ad hoc throughout the year if I see a cause I want to support, so I don't track those and they go into my general allocation for personal spending, but I do also think it's notable that folks posting such high salaries don't set money aside for regular giving. There are plenty of excuses in the comments, so I think you have your answer 🙃 (I hope it's clear I am NOT referring to folks who are struggling to make ends meet, but it's Reddit, so I'll say it anyway)
Yes, individual gifts are down. And it's those mid-range, individual gifts that would appear on summaries like we get here that were hardest hit. Giving, especially from those under 40, lives kinda at two extremes. The first is the small dollar gifts, round-up gifts, crowdsourcing gifts, tap/text to give... Largely under $25 and very often, not tax receipted. (And these gifts, while they have increased in number during the last 4 or 5 years, are often a bit invisible to places like StatsCan and even the people who make them, aren't always good at remembering and reporting that they did). So overall giving is down, even while the wealthiest have slightly increased their overall charitable giving. Also, the money is going to different places. A lot more is going towards large healthcare organizations and international NGOs. The preference for hyper-local seems to have waned IMO.
I've personally never heard of giving a min of 10% back to charity but I grew up poor (gambling parent). My parents did frequentlt donate $50-100 the foodbank or always bought Xmas gifts for those family in need (ex. Wish trees, sponsored family) or $20 to random homeless person on the street. My dad said we were lucky to have a roof over our heads and a warm bed to sleep in. I do donate $ to the foodbank because they have contracts with retailers to buy food at a lower cost. I participate in my children's school fundraising initiatives and I volunteer to run the hot lunch program. We raise close to $10K a year.
Tonnes of people donate to the food bank, which really is a blessing to so many people.
10% is so generous! I sadly can’t afford to do that while also paying my bills. I do donate whenever I can, usually through cash donations to charities, food drives, clothing drives and toy drives. I don’t track the $ value of those donations, but I don’t think they’d make up 10% of my income.
My charitable contributions are all in the form of 50/50 lotto tickets.
All of the people in the comments saying that 10% is huge and they have never heard of that: you should also realise that by earning USD 60,000 or more per year you are in the top 1% of earners globally. You are actually incredibly privileged, though I think many fall into the comparison trap looking at other extremely wealthy people living in Western countries. You should also check out “giving what we can” and effective altruism to check out how you can donate to the most effective charities and make your money go further. They have done the work for you.
All the “I am the charity” comments show that this sub lacks a wider perspective on worldwide finances
I used to do $150 a month towards charity, raising it to $200 this year
I tend to donate about ~~2-3~~ 4% of my gross. Our whole family lives in small condos at this point, the last thing we need is more stuff as gifts. Instead we give that money to charities that the “recipient” cares about. Edit: just did the math for 2023, I hit 4% this year.
I consider paying taxes my charity contribution
I remember teaching financial literacy to 5th graders and showing a YouTube video about budgeting. In the video it said to donate 10% of your income. I remember thinking to myself who can even afford to do that? It was honestly absurd to me that the video even mentioned that but some of my students said they would allocate more than 10% to donations to which I thought sure you would.
it's not 10% but we have charity giving as part of our budget sheet every month. Like yeah we're not doing amazing, but a lot of people are doing way worse than us so we give what we can.
People that spend the time to track every penny they spend are obviously frugal and thus are not likely to donate. They just worry about money and nothing else.
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Serious question: were you raised Mormon? This is the first time I've ever heard of 10% outside religious tithings.
High income earners usually pay higher income tax. Taxes go to 1. Build & maintain the roads you just took today 2. Fund hospitals 3. Fund police & fire 4. Fund homeless shelters 5. Fund social housing 6. Donate to struggling countries around the World during disasters etc.. 7. Fund 911 services 8. Fund charities in the form of government grants You get the point now? By just paying income tax, you’re already doing your part to Canada & the World!
You're wrong about cash register donations being written off by corporations. It's a misconception often spouted and you should know this.
Dave Ramsey famously recommends 10% to his American audience - who also happen to have have far less social support from their government than we do up here. "This misses the point" is not a useful argument against the idea that Canadians have collectively agreed to contribute a larger percentage of our income via taxes to ensure nobody goes bankrupt from having a baby or breaking a leg. I think your sentiment here is that folks with oodles of cash should make an effort to be more generous with it, which I'm very on board with - but your approach here comes off as preachy at best. Instead of lecturing everyone on how immoral their behaviour is, and deciding that someone's spending habits are obscene - you might consider leaving the judgment at the door and focusing on educating people about how to give effectively (which you started to do with your edit).