A healthy December bump eased what would otherwise have been a dismal year for Canadian charities, according to a new report from RBC. They will remember 2020 as a time of painful disruption, when virus-fighting measures stemmed or halted the flow of donations. Overall giving fell 4% in Canada last year, according to RBC data. The decline masked some sharp divergences within the sector, with some organizations seeing increased contributions and others getting nothing—literally.
Almost 42% of organizations that had received donations in 2019 got less in 2020, according to RBC data. The combined damage amounted to $60 million less in donations. Some charities did fine; 27% received zero dollars in 2020. The biggest collective hit came in May, early in the pandemic, when giving plunged 30% from a year earlier. In December, donations rose 21% from a year earlier, as many Canadians rushed to lock in contributions before the end of the tax year.
Those organizations that had a virtual presence or pivoted to online payments and fundraising fared better. Canada Helps, a national platform that accepts online donations for registered charities, captured almost 33% of the December increase in donations, according to RBC data. Employees and customers of Benevity’s corporate clients donated $500 million of their own funds through the Calgary-based firm—a 76% increase over last year.
