Our new series
Calum Carmichael, Editor with “PANL Perspectives”
For most readers of the MPNL program’s PANL Perspectives we expect it would take little to convince them that philanthropy – the voluntary giving of one’s income, wealth or time toward public purposes – is (despite some concerns) a good thing, both in terms of its potential to improve the well-being of those who give and those who receive, and in terms of the support it provides to charities, nonprofits and their work.
And we expect that for the same readers it would also take little to convince them that a broad and strong culture of philanthropy is or would be a good thing for Canada. Here, we use the term “culture of philanthropy” not as it’s been used elsewhere to describe fundraising potential or the internal work environment of nonprofits. Instead, we mean something much wider: the ongoing set of behavioural norms within a society that encourages and normalizes a personal and collective responsibility for empathy and action. Here, “empathy” refers to our regard for those in need and those with whom we differ; and “action” refers to our learning about those needs and differences, together with our assisting or defending the people involved. Such a culture can be seen in a variety of ways, whether in our readiness to help, say by voluntarism or charitable donations, or in our readiness to understand and respect the outlooks and priorities of others despite our not sharing them.
In Canada we see mixed signals as to the breadth and strength of such a culture.
On the one hand, there’s the good news…
CanadaHelps’ Annual Giving Report notes that donations are increasing across a range of donor types and causes.
In terms of our readiness to help, Canada has a strong history and practice of donation and voluntarism. And by some measures those practices are growing. Contributions made through CanadaHelps are increasing across a range of donor types and causes. Moreover, across the 25 years from 1998 to 2023, the charitable donations claimed by tax filers increased by 60% in real terms. And across recent international polls, Canadians rank high on questions about trusting most people in their country, believing them to be morally good, and in not thinking that being born in the country is necessary to truly belong.
But on the other hand…
And yet, over the same 25 years the number of tax filers claiming charitable donations fell by 6.4%. Of those who continue to make claims, it appears that donation has become less of a society-wide phenomenon and more the practice of older and better-off Canadians. Such shifts align with the Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating. Over the ten years from 2013 to 2023, it estimates that the percentage of Canadians making donations to charities and nonprofits dropped from 82% to 54%, and that the percentage of volunteering dropped from 44% to 32%. Alongside these developments, polarization appears to have increased in Canada, threatening our disposition toward understanding and respect. On many issues old and new, Canadians have become more dogmatic and divided in their beliefs and less accepting of people with whom they differ or disagree.
What we propose
In part because of these mixed signals, we consider Canadian philanthropy to be at an inflection point. It’s time for us to examine how to build a broader and stronger culture of philanthropy in Canada – not as a cure-all for the developments noted above, but as a way to counteract them by preserving if not increasing our society’s empathy and action for both those in need and those with whom we differ.
We treat building such a culture not as an effort to adopt the culture of another country or to revive some culture from our past. Rather, we treat it as a new undertaking to protect a culture that would remain distinctively Canadian but would recognize and respond proactively to major changes our society is now facing, whether demographic, economic, technological, informational or political. Such changes alter some of the basics of philanthropy – attitudes, expectations, incentives, ways of communicating and ways of giving. There’s much we don’t know about the extent and effects of such changes in our current context. But they point to our need at least to identify our knowledge gaps, treating this as a first step toward building a broader and stronger culture of philanthropy – one that could thrive alongside change, not simply survive despite it.
In the coming months, PANL Perspectives will be rolling out a series that examines from a variety of viewpoints the question of how to broaden and strengthen the culture of philanthropy in Canada. What important things do we know or not know from existing data? How might we deepen the culture in future generations or within the current generation across all income levels?
What might we learn from the cultures of philanthropy among faith communities, multicultural communities or Indigenous communities, and then apply more generally? How might women or the NextGen be driving change in philanthropy and to what effect? How might the media’s depiction of philanthropy be shaping our behavioural norms toward it? And what could be or should be the role of public policy in broadening, strengthening and modernizing a culture of philanthropy in Canada?
We hope you’ll join us as we examine these questions, look for some answers and think about steps we could take individually and collectively to practice and encourage a broader and stronger culture of philanthropy in our country.
