Although Canadians donated a total of $10 billion to charities in 2007, the bulk of support continues to come from a narrow segment of the population, according to data released Monday.

The 2007 Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating reveals that just 21% of Canadians account for 82% of the total value of donations.

While the rates of donating, volunteering and helping are largely unchanged since the 2004 survey, there has been modest growth in the total value of donations, the average size of donations and total volunteer hours. There are also changes at the provincial and territorial level.

The survey found that donations increased 12%, or $1.1 billion, from 2004, while hours volunteered rose to 2.1 billion, a 4.2% increase.

The average donation increased to $437 from $400 in 2004, while the average number of volunteer hours remained about the same at 166 hours.

As with donations, the bulk of volunteer support continues to come from a narrow segment of the population: 12% of Canadians account for 78% of all volunteer hours.

“On the whole, almost all Canadians give time and money, but the fact remains, we still rely on a small number of individuals to provide the majority of support,” says Dr. Michael Hall, vice president, research at Imagine Canada and lead author of the report. “We’re encouraged that donations grew between 2004 and 2007 but we need Canadians to continue their support for charities and nonprofits during these challenging economic times.”

Giving varies by province and territory with Newfoundland and Labrador having the highest donor rate (91%), followed by Prince Edward Island (89%) and New Brunswick (88%). The largest increase in donor rates from 2004 to 2007 was in Alberta (79% to 85%). In regards to average donation size, Albertans made the largest average annual donation followed by donors from the Northwest Territories, the Yukon and Manitoba.

Volunteer activity in the provinces and territories varies substantially. In 2007, the volunteer rate was highest in Saskatchewan (59%) followed by the Yukon (58%), Prince Edward Island (56%), and Nova Scotia (55%). The volunteer rate increased in most provinces and territories with the largest increase occurring in Prince Edward Island (47% to 56%) followed by Nova Scotia (48% to 55%), and Saskatchewan (54% to 59%). Between 2004 and 2007, the largest decreases in average hours volunteered were in Saskatchewan (188 to 147 hours) and British Columbia (199 to 172 hours).

The Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating is conducted by Statistics Canada every three years and was developed through a unique partnership of federal government departments and voluntary organizations.

“The survey provides the most comprehensive assessment of giving, volunteering and participating ever undertaken in Canada and, to our knowledge, in the world,” Imagine Canada says.

Imagine Canada is a national charitable organization that looks into and out for Canada’s charities and nonprofit organizations. Volunteer Canada is a national organization engaged in the promotion of volunteerism across Canada.

IE