New Ipsos Poll reveals 26 per cent of Canadians may soon need charitable services to meet basic needs, up from 11 per cent due to pandemic and inflation
With 74 per cent of Canadians concerned about inflation and 25 per cent planning to give less to charities in 2022, CanadaHelps renews its call for Canadians to give as charities face rising demand
CanadaHelps, the country’s largest platform for donating and fundraising online, today announced the findings of a new Ipsos poll that highlights the impact of rising inflation on charitable giving. According to the Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of CanadaHelps, most Canadians (74 per cent) are concerned about inflation and 17 per cent plan to give less to charities in 2022, citing the effects of inflation on their finances. The number of Canadians that rely on charitable services in 2022 to meet their basic needs because of the pandemic or inflation could balloon from 11 per cent today to one in four (26 per cent).
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25 per cent of Canadians plan to give less to charities in 2022 compared to 2021, including more than one in ten (12 per cent) who indicate that they will be donating less because they are specifically concerned about the effects of the pandemic on their finances.
By comparison, just 15 per cent plan to give more to charities in 2022 than they did in 2021. Of those planning to give more, 6 per cent note their decision is influenced by the impact of inflation.
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With inflation reaching its highest level in 30 years, reaching 5.1 per cent in January 2022, it is having a profound effect on Canadians. The vast majority (82 per cent) of Canadians expect their financial situation to be negatively impacted in some way. A sizeable proportion (15 per cent) of Canadians say they won’t be able to afford necessities such as groceries, medicine, and gas, and 29 per cent would need to cut back on these essentials if the inflation rate continues to rise. A majority (52 per cent) would need to reduce spending on non-essentials such as travel, entertainment, and eating out; while 33 per cent would need to reduce the amount they save, and 15 per cent would have to start using their savings to cover basic expenses. Around one in five (19 per cent) would have to reduce debt repayments.
“The charitable sector is at a critical inflection point as rising inflation rates and pandemic challenges collide. Inflation is straining the most vulnerable communities in Canada, which also drives further demand for charitable services,” says Marina Glogovac, President and CEO of CanadaHelps. “These findings reveal inflation concerns will likely impact charitable giving when it is needed most.”
Rising inflation rates emerged as an issue during the latter part of 2021, and the Ipsos poll offers evidence of a concerning trend.
The poll reveals that 23 per cent of respondents reported that they donated less to charities in 2021, with one in ten citing high inflation (10 per cent) or the pandemic (10 per cent) as factors that limited their ability to donate.
While online giving grew by 86 per cent in 2020, overall giving in Canada is projected to have declined by -10 per cent in 2020 according to the 2021 Giving Report published by CanadaHelps. In 2021, $465 million was raised online on CanadaHelps.org, a decrease of -2 per cent from the year prior which indicates a softening of online growth. There were, however, several methods of giving on the rise using CanadaHelps in 2021, which include donations raised through monthly giving (increasing by 21 per cent), while donations of securities ± including stocks, bonds, and mutual funds ± generated 91 per cent more in dollars raised than the previous year.
“The growth in monthly donations and securities seen in 2021 indicates that those who are in the position to give are turning to more strategic ways to donate,” says Glogovac. “Times of crisis often drive the greatest change, so we are hopeful that Canadian donors who are in a position to help fill gaps in lost funding will continue supporting communities in need.”
Source data from the Ipsos poll are available for download here.
Poll Methodology
For this survey, a sample of 1,001 Canadians aged 18+ were interviewed between January
28 and 31, 2022. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample’s composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ±3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadians aged 18+ been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.