Corporate Citizenship
Canadian businesses make significant contributions to community life. Through donations to nonprofits and charities, sponsorships, in-kind support and employee volunteering, business contributions are a growing source of support to the sector.
Yet we know very little about the nature of this support.
Imagine Canada researchers were the first to launch a comprehensive portrait of business contributions to community.
Our annual survey of 2,400 Canadian businesses will tell us:
- Which industries give the most?
- What are the levels of giving? Are they going up or down?
- How do businesses support volunteering?
Key Findings
- 3% of Canadian businesses claimed charitable donations totaling $1 billion in 2003
- Of this 3%, more than half came from two industries: Finance and Insurance (32.1%) and Manufacturing (19.4%)
- Accommodation & Food Service companies gave the highest percentage of their pre-tax profits in donations (2.6%)
- 71% of businesses either support or accommodate employee volunteering
- Businesses give for 4 main reasons: 1. To build their company’s brand or reputation; 2. to build strong communities that will support their business interests; 3. to build social capital and support among citizens and governments; 4. to recruit and retain employees
Main Topics Covered by our Research
Did you know that there are 161,000 nonprofilts and charities in Canada?
Did you know that Canada’s nonprofit and voluntary sector is the 2nd largest in the world?
The sector represents $79.1 billion or 7.8% of the gross domestic product
The sector is larger than automotive and manufacturing. It generates $112 billion in revenues and employs 2 million people
Canadians donated $10 billion in 2007
Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick have the highest donor rates.
Canadians volunteered 2.1 billion hours in 2007
Young Canadians aged 15 to 24 are more likely to volunteer than Canadians in any other age group
One percent of nonprofits command 60% of all revenues flowing to the sector
Canadians with the lowest household incomes give a greater percentage of their income than others
Saskatchewan has the highest volunteer rate in the country, followed by the Northwest Territories and the Yukon
Those exposed to giving and volunteering activities early in life are more likely to continue those behaviours as adults
