By Laurie Fox

We’ve all heard it, the bleak predictions for the future of charitable giving in Canada. The narrative that fewer Canadians are giving, younger donors aren’t giving as much as previous generations…you know the stats. But this narrative is missing one big thing…

The number of charitable gifts in Wills in Canada is growing, and in a big way!

Will Power, a national awareness campaign inspiring Canadians to create positive change through their Wills, commissioned a study at the end of 2022. The goal was to find out how many people have made a donation in their Will, and who they were.

The results were astounding. Between 2019 and 2022 there had been a significant increase in the number of Canadians donating to charity in their Will, from five to eight percent! That’s 1.2 million more people giving in their Will, and an expected $37 billion in future donations. A further 22 percent were planning or considering a donation in their Will sometime soon.

That’s right, donations are on the rise. Just not in the way you thought.

You’d be even more surprised by the type of donors giving this way. The study revealed that younger Canadians are more likely to leave a charitable gift in their Will than older donors. In fact, 11 percent of Millennials have already made a donation in their Will, versus six percent of Boomers.

Younger donors are also more likely to use other financial tools at their disposal to give back. For example, another 11 percent of Millennials have named a charity as beneficiary of their registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) or tax-free savings account (TFSA). Whereas only three percent of Boomers have done this.

Regardless of who is giving, the point is clear — there is a movement building across the country. Canadians are finding different ways to give, be it through their Wills, registered funds, or some other financial asset.

We’re not talking about wealthy philanthropists here; this movement is made up of ordinary Canadians. It’s no surprise really, when you consider the current economic climate. Inflation, housing prices and debt levels may have had a negative effect on people’s ability to give, but not on their desire to. Most of us have a fundamental need to make a difference in this world. If we could find a way to express that, while still maintaining our quality of life, why wouldn’t we?

At Will Power, we like to illustrate the point by showing people how one percent in their Will can result in a shockingly big donation. They don’t use any of the money they need now, and they still leave the majority in their Will to family. (Talking about the tax savings involved certainly helps seal the deal.)

When we tell people this, the lightbulbs go off, and the excitement is palpable as they start imagining their potential impact.

But how does this help charities, who are struggling to meet demand now? This is revenue that’s going to come way in the future, especially if we’re talking about Millennials.

Well, consider this:

  • Research from Dr. Russell James shows that donors who write a charity into their Will typically end up increasing their annual donations too…by as much as 77 percent!
  • When those legacy gifts do come in, they can be huge, and more often than not, unrestricted. For many charities, they are game changing
  • Legacy fundraising is the most cost effective type of fundraising around. It costs just cents on the dollar

There’s nothing to lose really. So what’s stopping more charities from getting in the game?

Charities are front lines in this new era of growing need. It can be hard to even think about the long-term when there’s so much at stake. But making just a little space for legacy fundraising is worth it. Will Power predicts that in the next six years, another five percent of Canadians will leave a charitable gift in their Will. That’s an estimated $58B for important causes in this country.

Legacy fundraising has also never been easier! There are so many tools popping up that make it cost effective and time efficient. At Will Power we make legacy marketing and know-how accessible to all charities and advisors. There are financial and legal innovations out there that make the execution more available too.

It’s all welcome news. After decades of worrying about the decline of charitable giving, we can now confidently point to one area that is on the rise. Better days are ahead. It’s a message we all need to hear.

 

Laurie Fox has been a die-hard charity sector professional for close to two decades. Most recently, Laurie specialized in gift planning at Toronto General & Western Hospital Foundation and Plan International Canada. It was there that Laurie discovered the power of strategic giving to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary; and its potential to help meet some of society’s greatest needs. For the past two years Laurie has been working with CAGP to develop Will Power, Canada’s new national legacy giving campaign.

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