Womb to Tomb

It never ceases to surprise me when I encounter someone in my daily walk or while doing a presentation on child hunger who says something like ” if something is truly important, then government should be doing it and that discharges my duty to privately help others”. I admit that I have embelished the language but this is the sentiment. I can usually explain my position that macro systemic programs don’t solve issues, they at best mitigate and at worst perpetuate the problem. My assumption is that there aren’t a lot of people like this but Arthur C. Brooks “Who Cares: America’s Charity Divide — Who Gives, Who Doesn’t, and Why it Matters” offers a different insight about Canada.

This nanny state mentality has crossed into our philanthropy. In general we are very stingy. Americans give US$900 per person to charitable causes each year, while in Canada, the average is $400. In Quebec, the average is $176, the lowest amount of any province or territory.

I was at a meeting of government and sector leaders last month where many were bemoaning the lack of a private donor culture in our country. I blasphemed when I suggested ” that is our problem, not the donors”. The response was ” the government will/should make up the shortfall”.

In Alberta, the government announced in the throne speech a new initiative called the Community Spirit program where the Alberta charitable tax credit will be increased and a system of matching individual donations will be funded by budgetary surpluses. This type of encouragement will do a lot more build a private donor culture than the entitlement mentality that seems to be pervading society and the sector.