National Post (National Edition)
A `ONE-TWO GUT PUNCH' FOR MANY CHARITIES
WE scandal, COVID crisis hitting hard
The WE Charity scandal this summer raised concerns among Canadians considering donating to charity, making them question the governance of such organizations, says a new poll from the Angus Reid Institute.
The results could have an impact on charities' bottom line, the poll says.
The WE scandal, which involved a $43.5-million contract from the federal government to WE to manage a student volunteer program, became an issue when it was revealed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose family had been paid by WE for speeches, and former finance minister Bill Morneau, whose daughter works for WE, did not recuse themselves from decisions about the contract.
The government has maintained that the federal public service recommended WE, but government documents suggest they were pushed toward WE by politicians. The scandal led to WE shutting down its Canadian operations earlier this month.
The Angus Reid poll suggests that troubles Canadians who donate to charity — and is troubling to charities themselves, who are facing a “double whammy” of the WE scandal and the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This is a scandal that's reverberated far beyond the corridors of the House of Commons or the corporate offices of WE,” said Shachi Kurl, executive director of the Angus Reid Institute. “It's actually had a very heavy effect on organizations that serve to provide services and assistance and help in this country to those who need it.”
The poll breaks donors into several groups: nondonors, 73 per cent of whom haven't given to charity in the past year; casual donors, those who give up to $250 per year; prompted donors, 62 per cent of whom give more than $250; and super donors, of whom 58 per cent give more than $500 annually, and 27 per cent of whom give more than $2,500.
Across all groupings, 57 per cent say the WE scandal “has raised questions about governance, transparency, and management that are relevant for the whole charity sector.”
“What has the WE Charity scandal done?” asked Kurl. “To an extent, it has confused or muddied the waters in terms of donors' understanding of how charities work.”
Still, a majority of Canadians — 62 per cent — across all donor groups say the scandal hasn't changed how they feel about giving, but “a significant segment is more jaded,” the report says. Indeed, 38 per cent of Canadians say the scandal has changed how they feel about charitable giving.
Among those most committed to donating to charity, 73 per cent say the WE scandal hasn't changed how they feel. That number drops to 62 per cent among prompted donors, 58 per cent for casual donors and 56 per cent for non-donors.
More broadly, the research — done by the Angus Reid Institute and in a partnership with Cardus, Charitable Impact, Imagine Canada, Philanthropic Foundations Canada, United Way and Canada Helps — shows the compounding effects of the WE scandal and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The poll says 49 per cent of those who've donated over the past two years haven't changed their habits in light of the pandemic, but 37 per cent say they've been donating less. Comparatively, only nine per cent of people say their donations have gone up.
Imagine Canada, a non-profit, estimates the charitable community could lose between $4.2 billion and $6.5 billion, and the poll suggests that 76 per cent of Canadians would support a dollar-for-dollar matching program from the government.
What this all means, explained Kurl, is that the pandemic makes Canadians less able to give, and the WE scandal has made them more skeptical about donating to charity.
“That is a one-two gut punch to organizations that serve to help others,” she said.
The survey was conducted online from Aug. 31 to Sept. 2, among 1,606 Canadian adults who are members of the Angus Reid Forum. The margin of error is +/- 2.4 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.