The Daily. Monday, September 17, 2001

Trends in personal gifts and charitable donations

Canadians' generosity has been rising slowly, both in constant dollars and as a proportion of household income, for the past several decades, according to a recent study. The rise in donations to charitable oranizations is slowing, however, while giving gifts to individuals is accelerating.

The average annual value of gifts and contributions for each household rose steadily from $986 in 1969 to $1,700 in 1996. This total giving accounted for 4.5% of the average disposable household income in 1996, up from 3.3% in 1969.

The study, Generosity in Canada: Trends in personal gifts and charitable donations over three decades, 1969 to 1997, shows that the manner in which Canadians give gifts and make charitable donations has been changing. For example, of the monetary giving that goes to organizations, a shrinking proportion is going to religious organizations compared with non-religious organizations.

This report is based on household spending data from Family Expenditure Surveys between 1969 and 1996, and the Survey of Household Spending since 1997.

The study provides information about regional and income quintile patterns in gifts and charitable donations. It reveals that the gap in giving (as a proportion of household income) between low-income and high-income households is narrowing.

Generosity in Canada: Trends in personal gifts and charitable donations over three decades, 1969 to 1997 (75F0033MIE, free) is one of a series of studies on the nonprofit sector, conducted under the auspices of Statistics Canada's Nonprofit Sector Knowledge Base Project. It is available on Statistics Canada's Web site (http://www.statcan.gc.ca). From the Our products and services page, choose Free publications, then Social conditions.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Dr. Paul Reed (613-951-8217; reedpau@statcan.gc.ca), Public Institutions Division.