We are asking the federal Industry Minister and Treasury Board Ministers to maintain funding for the Canadian Survey on Giving, Volunteering and Participation (CSGVP) and the Satellite Account. The CSGVP is a national survey carried out by Statistics Canada every three years. The Satellite Account is an annual report prepared by Statistics Canada based on institutional data that provides key estimates about the economic activity of the sector and its contribution to the economy as measured by Gross Domestic Product.

 

Together, the CSGVP and Satellite Account provide critical economic data for Canada’s 161,000 charities and nonprofit organizations to support their core fundraising, volunteer engagement and community service activities.Government Activities leading to threats to

the CSGVP and Satellite Account.

 

In spring 2007, a federal Blue Ribbon Panel reporting to the Minister of Industry concluded that the CSGVP and Satellite Account were among a group of surveys conducted by Statistics Canada that provided the least value for money. The Panel was informed of the usage of the data through Statistics Canada channels but were not made aware of the principal ways in which the sector accesses this data, as set out above. In summer 2007, Statistics Canada was chosen as one of the 17 agencies/ departments to execute expenditure review this fiscal year. The CSGVP and Satellite Account were included in the items put forward by Statistics Canada for expenditure review.

 

In fall 2007, Treasury Board (TBS) will decide which items go forward for consideration by Cabinet. Any program cuts are expected to be announced in Budget 2008, anticipated in February 2008.

 

 

 

Statistics Canada makes modest efforts to distribute this information directly, distributing about 2500 hard copies of the reports and receiving 18,000 hits/ year on the data posted on its website. However, Imagine Canada and Volunteer Canada have been the primary distribution agents for CSGVP findings.

 

In 2006, there were 3.4 million (3,427,000) hits and 390,00 visits on www.givingandvolunteering.ca, a website operated by Imagine Canada and Volunteer Canada that is dedicated to disseminating findings from the survey. This amounts to more than 14,000 hits per business day from among Canada’s 161,000 charities and nonprofits.

 

The survey provides key market research information that nonprofit organizations use to develop their fundraising and volunteer recruitment strategies. Information from the survey has been used by Imagine Canada and Volunteer Canada since 1997 to produce over 125 resources and tools to help community organizations with their fundraising and volunteering.

These resources and tools are available through a dedicated website: www.givingandvolunteering.ca and are widely used. In the last two years alone, there have been over 200,000 downloads of these resources in electronic form.

 

The CSGVP is also important to federal and provincial budget and other policy-makers as a tool that can track, for example, the impact of the Budget 2006 and 2007 measures eliminating capital gains tax on gifts of stock.

 

 

 

Faye Wightman, CEO of the Vancouver Foundation, says that “the loss of the CSGVP data would be a real blow to my organization” - one of Canada’s largest community foundations distributing $35 million/ year from privately donated funds to support community programs. Faye is just one of thousands of heads of community organizations that rely on the information gathered through the CSGVP and Satellite Account.

 

CSGVP and Satellite Account data allows community organizations to identify potential volunteers and donors, understand donor trends, and develop and execute fundraising strategies. Canada’s charities and nonprofits raise almost half ($50B) of their annual revenues ($112B) through donations and income from services delivered significantly by volunteers.

 

 

 

Canada’s community nonprofit sector has 161,000 charities and nonprofit corporations and an estimated 870,000 unincorporated community-based organizations. It supports over 2 million full-time paid jobs (FTEs), being 12.1% of the economically active population, and accounts for 7.1% of the gross domestic product (GDP) -- 8.5% when volunteer time is included.

 

The nonprofit sector contributes over $80 billion/ year to the Canadian economy --five times more than either motor vehicle manufacturing or agriculture and over three times more than accommodation and food services combined.

 

“The charitable sector plays an invaluable role in helping Canadians and making our communities strong. They provide important services and often partner with governments to provide services Canadians need and depend on… this [is an] important sector – a sector which employs millions of Canadians whether as paid employees or as volunteers.” -- The Honorable Stephen Harper, January 7, 2006.