A boost in online giving last year may be masking a “concerning trend” that has emerged among Canadian charities, according to experts on a new report.
The Giving Report 2026, released Tuesday by online donation and fundraising platform CanadaHelps, showed a shift in how Canadians are giving online across the country.
“The value of donations keeps going up, but the number of people giving keeps going down, even though there was a slight increase last year by about one per cent,” Julie Fiorini, general manager of charity and donor services with CanadaHelps, said in a Zoom interview with CTVNews.ca on Tuesday.
“Charities are dealing with decreasing donors and donations, a rise in demand, and at the same time, they’re also dealing with a very burnt-out workforce,” she added. “Put all this together, and it makes for a very challenging environment.”
Last year, online donations reached the highest level seen since the COVID-19 pandemic, but donations are mainly coming from a smaller group of wealthy individuals, according to the report.
CanadaHelps noted that donations rose to $529 million in 2025, up $47 million, or 10 per cent, from the previous year.
The report found that less than 0.5 per cent of donors, or about 3,900 people, drove more than 16 per cent of all donations. Meanwhile, the research found that donors giving $100 or less have declined by 17 per cent from 2020 to 2025, meaning fewer people were giving smaller amounts.
In contrast, those donating between $1,000 and $9,999 have risen by 40 per cent, and those giving $10,000 or more have doubled during that period.
Another shift is that individuals are donating securities, such as stocks or mutual funds, instead of cash, Fiorini added. Among the above-mentioned 0.5 per cent of major donors, their donations amounted to more than $83 million in securities.
Gifts of securities went up by 361 per cent since 2020, according to the report, which Fiorini called “unbelievable.” She said donors are motivated to donate stocks and mutual funds in part to reduce their taxable burden and take advantage of tax receipts while helping charities in the process.
The growth in online donations “masks a concerning trend,” Duke Chang, president and CEO of CanadaHelps, said in a press release Tuesday.
With donations concentrated among wealthy people, Chang expressed fears of charities losing broader support from the community, which has “historically sustained” the work of charities.
“If the generosity gap continues to widen and everyday donors disappear, many charities will soon find themselves without the diverse base of support they need to remain resilient and responsive to local needs,” he added in the statement.
Fiorini said the generosity gap refers to how older donors, including millennials, generation X and boomers, are contributing more of the charitable donations in the country than younger generations.
The report comes as the charity sector struggles to keep pace with demand, CanadaHelps noted in its press release. More than two-thirds of charities reported higher demand for services as they deal with staffing shortages and financial uncertainty.
Affordability and housing concerns loom, even as 88 per cent of organizations are meeting their mission goals, according to CanadaHelps.
