This blog was originally published on July 7th, 2014, but was updated in March of 2023.

If you’re like most Canadians, you may associate giving with a mad dash in December trying to figure out which charities you will support and how much you will give before the year end charitable tax receipt deadline.  Instead of waiting late into the year when you are already strapped for cash during the holiday season, it may be time to consider monthly giving earlier to make a difference and enjoy the gift of giving year-round.

Monthly giving is a scheduled financial donation given to the charities you care about – without actually increasing how much you would normally give at the end of the year.  And, we think you’ll come to love monthly giving as much as charities do.

Why Charities Love Monthly Giving

For most charities, particularly small to medium sized ones, donation revenue often times fluctuates dramatically from month to month, and year to year.  Monthly giving, however, offers a steady and predictable source of funding, and also allows charities to benefit from other advantages like:

1. More Money can go to the Cause rather than Administrative and Marketing Costs

There’s typically a significant cost advantage for all except for the largest gifts when donors choose to give online instead of mailing or phoning in their donation because manual administrative work is eliminated. That’s particularly true when donations are made through CanadaHelps non-commercial platform. And in the case of monthly donations, the cost advantage is more significant as the charity can reduce its marketing in confidence of your continued support.

2. Time savings from streamlined administration

When using monthly gifting through CanadaHelps, charities benefit from our prompt donation disbursement, instant tax receipting, and online access to donation data. We take on and automate the administrative work, saving charities time and money.

3. More effective planning.

With a more predictable cash flow, charities are able to remain focused on fulfilling their charitable mission by having the ability to plan future projects and initiatives without worrying if enough funds will come in to carry out their charitable efforts.

Why You’ll Love Monthly Giving Too

In addition to supporting the charity you care about, there are several benefits for donors like you:

1. Get strategic with your giving.

Giving always feels good, but it feels even better when you commit to the causes important to you and carefully strategize how much you can give. Start by setting up monthly giving for the charities you know you will support. Then, each time you want to make an additional gift, review all your donations and ask yourself, “Does a monthly commitment make sense?  Do I need to change the mix of charities I support?” You can easily adjust the mix as you go.  Ready to take your giving to the next level? Consider allocating a charitable budget, such as the 1% charitable fund suggested in our blog post how much you should give to charity.

2. Easier on your pocket book.

Scheduled giving not only helps charities forecast their funding, budget their finances, and plan future charitable projects and initiatives — it also helps you budget as well!  Instead of making the mad donation dash in the middle of the heavy-spending holiday season, feel good giving year-round and avoid a January cash-flow crunch.

3. Easier to track.

When you choose to give monthly using CanadaHelps, you’re able to retrieve your online tax receipts at any time in your free, online CanadaHelps account.  Or, you can simply wait until tax time to get one receipt with all of your charitable donations made that fiscal year. Beyond tax time, access to your donation history will help you better assess and plan your charitable strategy and budget for the next fiscal year.

4. It’s simple with CanadaHelps.

Open a free CanadaHelps account. Browse or search for any registered Canadian charities you would like to support.  Choose how much you would like to donate monthly. Set-up automatic donation payment processing. It’s that easy!  Each month we’ll process your donation on the day of the month you’ve selected. No more risk that you’ll forget to make that important charitable gift.

5. Best of all, monthly giving allows you to make a bigger charitable impact.

Month after month, your scheduled donations will almost always total more than sporadic donations made to various charities throughout the year (which of course you can still do!).

---

Updated on October 31, 2024