THUNDER BAY – As the economy tightens, many Canadians are re-considering Christmas this year.
The results of a new Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of CanadaHelps, Canada’s largest donation and fundraising platform, was released today revealing that nearly half of Canadians (47%) would prefer to receive a charitable gift that makes an impact such as a Charity Gift Card, eCard, or charitable gift instead of a material present like a sweater, movie pass, candle, book, or technology this holiday season. Among the 47% of Canadians who would prefer a gift that makes a difference, 23% would prefer a Charity Gift Card where the recipient can choose the charity that benefits from the funds, and 24% of Canadians would prefer a charitable donation be made directly to a cause in their honour. The poll also reveals that one in three (35%) Canadians will scale back holiday spending as the affordability crisis and economic uncertainty prevails.
“The holiday giving season is a critical time for charities to raise funds to support programs and services year-round,” said Jane Ricciardelli, Chief Operating Officer and Acting CEO of CanadaHelps. “With 22% of Canadians anticipating the need to access essential charitable services like food and shelter in the next six months, charitable gifts are a great way to show your friends or family that you care while supporting communities in need.”
Purse Strings Tighten This Holiday Seasons
With high rates of inflation, climbing interest rates, and a looming recession, the Ipsos poll reflects that Canadians intend to scale back their holiday spending this year. One in three (35%) Canadians expect to spend less on holiday gifts this season, while nearly the same number of Canadians (31%) will spend about the same amount as the prior year. One in ten (9%) say they do not purchase holiday presents, 19% haven’t yet considered how much they will spend, and 7% expect to spend more. Parents (46%) are much more likely to scale back holiday spending than those without children (31%). Women (40%) are also more likely than men (31%) to spend less on gifts this year.
“With so many Canadians finding it difficult to make ends meet, it’s not just their ability to give gifts that is impacted. For many, it means the difference between buying groceries or making rent or mortgage payments. This has put enormous strain on many charities that are facing a perfect storm of declining donations against rising demand for essential services,” explains Ricciardelli.
The same Ipsos poll also reported that while 22% of Canadians are expecting to turn to charities for essential services over the next six months, 20% of Canadians are planning to give less to charities this year than last year, with 74% of those planning to give less identifying the rising cost of living as one of the key reasons for this decline. Only 13% of Canadians are planning to give more than they did last year. In addition, a survey among small charities conducted by CanadaHelps in August revealed that 59% are unable to meet demand.
Ways to Give Charitable Gifts
To highlight creative ways Canadians can give on GivingTuesday (November 29th) and throughout the holiday season, CanadaHelps launched a 12 Ways to Give campaign. The campaign encourages Canadians to donate what they can this holiday season in support of their favourite charities or causes, with options to meet every budget and style of giving. Canadians can choose from a variety of charity gift options to make a big difference:
- Give a Charitable Gift: A charitable gift is the perfect way to make an impact and give a personalized present in someone’s honour to focus on a cause they care about. Perfect for any budget, gifts can be browsed by pricepoint under $25, under $100, or under $250, or by categories such as gifts that support children, enhance health, protect the environment, and so much more.
- Give an eCard: If the recipient’s favourite cause or charity is known, sending an eCard is the perfect personalized gift to honour someone, whether they are near or far.
- Give the Gift of Giving: Charity Gift Card purchasers select a value and design, write a custom message, and can then print or email the gift card to a loved one. A convenient and easy way to give, purchasers receive an instant charitable tax receipt for the value of the gift card and the recipients can choose a registered charity on CanadaHelps.org to donate the funds. A perfect stocking stuffer, Charity Gift Cards are also a way for parents and grandparents to introduce children to charitable giving. Plus, corporations of all sizes can increase their impact this holiday season as Charity Gift Cards can be purchased in bulk and are a perfect personalized gift for businesses to give to clients or employees, advance their corporate social responsibility strategy, and engage their team.
“After the two busiest shopping days of the year – Black Friday and Cyber Monday – it is GivingTuesday, a day for people around the world to celebrate generosity and engage in giving,” said Marc Saltzman, Canadian tech expert and ambassador for CanadaHelps. “GivingTuesday is the perfect day to support your favourite charity or cause, and CanadaHelps makes it so easy for Canadians to use tech for good to support any of Canada’s 86,000 charities whether it’s through a Charity Gift Card, eCard, monthly donation, fundraiser, and more.”
About the Ipsos Poll
These are some of the findings from an Ipsos poll conducted between October 28th and November 1st, 2022 on behalf of CanadaHelps.org. For this survey, a sample of 1,000 Canadians aged 18+ were interviewed. 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.
