Charitable giving down in B.C.: poll
Credit to Author: Tiffany Crawford| Date: Wed, 09 Oct 2019 17:46:33 +0000
Charitable giving is down significantly in B.C., according to an Insights West report released Wednesday.
The pollster, which has been tracking the charitable habits of B.C. residents for seven years, says while B.C. residents appear less generous than previous years, those who donate still give to causes close to their heart, especially health-related charities.
The report found that 84 per cent of respondents made a charitable donation in the past year, down from 95 per cent in 2012. The numbers are slightly down from 2017 as well.
For example, 89 per cent said they donated goods last year compared to 93 per cent in 2017, while 86 per cent had given financial support over the last year, down from 92 per cent.
Volunteer time also was down to 63 per cent from 74 per cent in 2017.
Donations over $1,000 also saw a decline, according to the report, with just 18 per cent donating over that amount, down from 23 per cent in 2017.
New to the report this year, Insights West asked B.C. residents about crowdfunding. The poll found 29 per cent of respondents participated in a crowd sourcing campaign. Nearly half of those who gave to crowdfunding were younger residents, aged 18 to 34.
The top charities remain health-related issues, followed by social issues, foreign aid, religion organizations, animal welfare, and environmental causes.
The survey of 1,418 adults was conducted from May 28 to 31. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.6 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
ticrawford@postmedia.com