The inflationary wave will force the philanthropic community to work twice as hard for financial support to charities facing growing need. Some foundations, however, are optimistic about the generosity of their donors, even though they themselves are suffering from the drastic increase in the cost of living.
The rise in consumer prices, which reached 6.8% in April, could ask for much of what they chose to give. According to a recent report from the CanadaHelps platform, one in four Canadians plans to give less in 2022 than in 2021.
Others may decide to give much, that is, no more, at least. The issue is that a $ 100 donation today to a charity that is also suffering the effects of inflation is not the same as the amount of $ 100 donated last year.
In the coming months, we need to work hard to get more donations and more, because in reality, we also expect a significant increase in requests from young people and families supported by the DYPrecognizes the Executive Director of the Youth Foundation DYPFabienne Audette.
Some organizations, such as food banks, face two or three times as many requests, said Greater Montreal Centraide president and general manager Claude Pinard.
Despite everything, the president of the board of directors of the Association of Charitable professionals in Quebec, Daniel Lanteigne, is nonetheless optimistic. He explained that there is often a great sense of solidarity in times of crisis, and donors are more generous.
The level of donations is usually maintained. Some give more, others will give more than they can or will not give. But there is a balance to be found through different levels of income and living, and therefore different levels of giving.mention of Daniel Lanteigne.
Although the time is not yet for inflation, data from Statistics Canada shows that public goodwill has not weakened over the years. As the number of donors decreased between 2016 and 2020, the total amount of donations rose to just over $ 10.5 billion.
During the pandemic, the Fondation des jeunes de la DYP has relied on loyal donors who, having survived the crisis, have decided to contribute more, says Fabienne Audette.
Centraide of Greater Montreal has also seen an increase in money raised during its fundraising campaigns over the past two years, Claude Pinard said.
keep the links
the CEO of Centraide of Greater Montreal sees the inflationary crisis as an opportunity to raise awareness of the most important donors and generate an outpouring of generosity.
We have a group of major donors donating $ 10,000 and more. So we will definitely call them. The team is looking at different strategies to raise awareness to see how we can increase donations from this category of donors, but also from all corporate donations.explained Claude Pinard.
According to Daniel Lanteigne, maintaining a consistent link to his network remains key, crisis or not.
The organizations that have succeeded in the pandemic at best, and easily gone through inflation, are the ones that hear from their donors, present projects, but also come back to them saying: “here’s what we did with your money and why in eventually we will ask you for more “argument of Mr. Lanteigne.
Major fundraising events can help cultivate a sense of belonging. Their return after a long absence will give impetus to this fundraising strategy, even if it still has to do with pandemic risk management.
It’s going to be like something new in itself, since we haven’t had one in a few years. It’s a rainbow on the horizon, if I may say somentioned by Ms. Audette.
Give more, consume less
The message of fundraising campaigns aimed at the general public should bring a degree of insecurity into perspective in relation to what others have experienced, for his part, suggests the co-director of the Canadian Network for Partnership Research on Philanthropy (PhiLab), Jean – Marc Fontan.
” We realized we weren’t carrying much, and we still had space to use to give […] It may be necessary to say to consume a little, but not necessarily to give less. “
The foundations also rely on capital market investments and reserves that they can use to put more money to work for charities, Fontan added.
If our wallet does not allow us to contribute an amount, a time contribution is also accepted at a time when community organizations see their teams as thin.
We all need as human beings to give againargument by Fabienne Audette. When you get involved by volunteering, it also has great value.
Source: Radio-Canada