2022 The Giving Report

Generational Giving Trends

The Giving Gap Remains a Key Challenge Facing Canadian Charities

The “giving gap” is a trend whereby older Canadians are giving financially at twice the rate of younger Canadians, which indicates that charities will face a major shortfall in funding when older donors are no longer able to give. As highlighted in this year’s report, different generations of Canadians are choosing to engage with the causes they care about in different ways as younger donors feel more comfortable giving cryptocurrency, securities, or supporting causes through acts of protest or on social media. Younger Canadians have also exhibited more trust in charities than older generations and care strongly about causes like climate change and social justice issues.

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Younger Canadians Are Giving in New And Strategic Ways

Cryptocurrency donations are on the rise among younger Canadians who are also giving strategically with securities.

Cryptocurrency donations; Baby Boomers: less than 0.1%, Gen X: 0.3%, Millennials:4.5%, Gen Z 6.1%

6.1% of Generation Z and 4.5% of Millennials have made donations of cryptocurrency compared to just 0.3% of Generation X and less than 0.1% of Baby Boomers.

securities donations; Baby Boomers: little data, Gex X 6%, Millennials 13%, Gen Z 6%

Millennials in particular hold a strong affinity for securities donations with 13% having donated securities, making them more than 2x as likely to donate securities than Baby Boomers. Meanwhile, roughly 6% of Generation Z and X donate securities.

There Are Generational Similarities And Divides Among Causes Canadians Care About

44% of Generation Z indentified climate change as top cause

44% of Generation Z identified climate change as the top cause they care about, while Generation X respondents ranked the cause in sixth place in their list of top causes.

Mental Health; Baby Boomers 34%, Gen X 38%, Millennials: 40%, Gen Z 38%

Generation Z (38%), Millennials (40%), Generation X (38%) and Baby Boomers (34%) all ranked mental health support in their list of top five causes.

Social Justice Causes; Baby Boomers 9%, Gen X 11%, Millennials 17%, Gen Z 30%

Social justice causes ranked higher among younger generations as nearly 30% of Generation Z and 17% of Millennials placed the cause in their top five, while 11% of Generation X and 9% of Baby Boomers did.

Different Generations Are Creating
Change in Different Ways

From protest to social media, Canadians of all generations are supporting causes they care about in different ways.

25% of Generation Z and 20% of Millennials report that they would engage in protest in support of a cause they care about, meanwhile, 13% of Generation X and 6% of Baby Boomers would do the same.

Learning About an Issue; Baby Boomers 49%, Gen X 45%, Millennials 48%, Gen Z 58%

Learning about an issue is strongest among Generation Z at 58%, while almost half of Millennials (48%), Generation X (45%) and Baby Boomers (49%) made the same claim.

Would Promote Causes on Social Media; Baby Boomers 24%, Gen X 37%, Millennials 42%, Gen Z 42%

42% of Generation Z and Millennials would share or promote causes important to them on social media, compared to 37% of Generation X, and only 24% of Baby Boomers.

Younger Canadians Are More Likely To Trust Charities Than Older Generations

Of those who do not give, 1 in 10 of younger generations stated lack of trust is the reason they do not give, but twice as many Canadians from Generation X and Baby Boomers stated that as the reason.

63% Baby Boomers, 64% Gen X, 66% Millennials, 71% Gen Z

Generation Z and Millennials were more likely to report that they trust charities than older generations, with 71% of Generation Z and 66% of Millennials saying that they strongly agree that they trust charities and their services.

Only 64% Generation X, Only 63% Baby Boomers

Fewer Baby Boomers and Generation X trust charities, at 63% and 64% respectively.

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