1999 Private Charitable Generosity Index: Executive Summary

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The Private Charitable Generosity Index, hereafter referred to simply as the Generosity Index, attempts to quantify a rather ambiguous concept - personal generosity. The Generosity Index is based on three measures: percentage of donors to tax filers, charitable donations as a percent of private income, and per capita volunteer hours. Each measures generosity in a different way. The index itself is a compilation of these three measures of generosity.

All of the data compiled for the Generosity Index refer to registered charities. That is, the compilation of information excludes non-profit organizations that are not registered charities, and informal activities.

1999 Canada-Only Private Charitable Generosity Index

In the first component of the Generosity Index, the percent of tax filers who made charitable contributions, Manitoba achieved the top ranking while Newfoundland received the lowest ranking. In general, anywhere between one-quarter and one-third of the tax filers in each province made charitable contributions.

All of the provinces except Quebec performed relatively well in the second component, the percent of private income donated to charities. Manitoba had the highest level of charitable donations as a percent of private income at 1.28 percent. Quebec received the lowest ranking, with only 0.59 percent of private income donated to charities.

Alberta received the highest ranking for per capita volunteering with a score of 9.2, although British Columbia and Saskatchewan also scored quite highly in this category. Prince Edward Island had the lowest score of 2.8.

There is a clear regional slant to the overall index scores. The top four provinces, which also happen to be the four Western provinces, score extremely closely to one another. Similarly, scores for the Atlantic provinces are also very close.

Income levels appear as a prominent trend in the overall index scores. The so-called "have," or wealthy, provinces (British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario) generally fare much better than the "have-not," or poorer, provinces.

Historical Patterns

Between 1990 and 1996, Manitoba and Prince Edward Island consistently had the largest proportion of tax filers making charitable contributions; Newfoundland consistently ranked last in this component.

A consistent and worrisome trend is evident in all ten provinces: a decreasing proportion of tax filers are donating to charities. Over the time period, every province experienced a decline in the percentage of tax filers who contributed to charities.

Manitoba and Prince Edward Island consistently received the highest rankings for the second component, the percent of private income donated to registered charities. Quebec, on the other hand, consistently ranked last.

The Western provinces and Ontario performed considerably better than the Eastern provinces and Quebec in terms of per capita volunteering for registered charities. Alberta was consistently the top province, while British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Ontario jockeyed for the remaining top three positions. The Maritimes, particularly New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, performed relatively poorly with consistently low scores for this component.

The overall results varied for the provinces over the time period covered by the Generosity Index. British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland experienced increases in their overall scores. Ontario, Quebec, and Prince Edward Island, on the other hand, experienced declines in their overall scores. Finally, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Nova Scotia generally maintained consistent performance levels.

US-Canada Generosity Index

The US-Canada Generosity Index differs slightly from the Canada-only Generosity Index because reliable data on per capita volunteering on a state-by-state basis is not currently available. The US-Canada Private Charitable Generosity Index is, therefore, a compilation of two components: the proportion of tax filers who donate to registered charities, and the percentage of private income donated to registered charities.

For the first component, the proportion of tax filers who donate to registered charities, the performance of the Canadian provinces relative to the US states is mixed. Only Manitoba (ranked 8th) managed to reach the top quintile of performance in the proportion of donors to tax filers. Four Canadian provinces, Prince Edward Island (14th), Saskatchewan (16th), Ontario (17th), and Alberta (24th) are included in the second quintile. Newfoundland is the lowest ranked province at 40th. None of the Canadian provinces ranked in the lowest quintile.

Canadian provinces rank poorly in the second component, the percent of private income donated to registered charities. The highest-ranking Canadian province, Manitoba, ranks 48th, and is the only province not ranked in the bottom quintile.

The top three jurisdictions, Utah, the District of Columbia, and Maryland, respectively, actually donate double the percentage of private income to charity that Canada’s highest ranking province, Manitoba, does. Equally unimpressive for the Canadian provinces is that four of the bottom five jurisdictions are Canadian, with Quebec ranking last.

The overall performance of the Canadian provinces relative to the US states is also relatively poor. Manitoba, Canada’s highest-ranking province, fails to break into the top quintile; it is relegated to 20th position, placing it in the second quintile, tied with Rhode Island and South Carolina. Meanwhile, three Canadian provinces rank in each of the third, fourth and fifth quintiles. Prince Edward Island (27th), Saskatchewan (29th) and Ontario (31st) all rank in the third quintile. Alberta, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, which all tie for 40th position, rank in the fourth quintile. Finally, British Columbia (49th), Newfoundland (51st), and Quebec (52nd) all rank in the bottom or last quintile.

Average Dollar Value of Charitable Donations

There is an important aspect of generosity which is intentionally overlooked by the Generosity Index but which is pivotally important to the charitable sector: the dollar value of donations.

The value of donations is excluded from the Generosity Index because it is a poor estimate of individual generosity since it favours relatively wealthy provinces over relatively poor provinces. Put another way, it considers equal-sized donations made by low-income individuals to be equivalent to those made by high-income individuals.

In the Canadian context, Alberta and British Columbia out-perform the other provinces in the dollar value of the average charitable donation. Quebec ranks lowest in this regard.

But the results are more startling when the US states are included. Without exception, the ten Canadian provinces rank dead last in terms of the dollar value of donations.1 The average US donation in Canadian dollars is $3,302, more than 4 times the average Canadian donation of $743. More striking is the fact that the 12 wealthiest US states average more than 6 times the average Canadian province donation, and more than 4.5 times that of Alberta, Canada’s top ranking province.

Conclusions

In both the all-Canadian generosity index and the US-Canada comparison, one fact seems to hold constant: those who have more, give more. The so-called "have" provinces are relatively more generous in the all-Canadian index than the "have-not" provinces. Similarly, when compared to the US states, even our wealthiest Canadian provinces do not have the same high level of giving seen in the US. Although more research is needed, it seems relatively obvious and intuitively logical that to be able to give more you have to have more.

The 1999 Private Charitable Generosity Index represents an important step forward in quantifying individual generosity. It will further the discussion about the charitable sector, its capacity, role, and limitations. However, the process of development and refinement will continue.

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