[Survey Release] Long-term Sustainability of Canadian Charities

The study found that charities are concerned about their long-term sustainability, with 17% of charities noting they are highly concerned, and 35% reporting they are moderately concerned. CICP investigated the length of time charities perceived that they could continue operating without major changes or additional support, given their current resourcing and service demands, and found that 16% of charities perceive they can continue to operate for 6 months to 1 year, 21% project 1 to 2 years, and 28% indicated more than 2 years.

Survey Highlights:

Charities indicated that the top factors that could impinge on their long-term sustainability include: 

• Rising operational costs (61%)
• Dependence on government funding (46%)
• Unstable and/or short-term funding (46%)
• Declining or inconsistent donor giving (41%)
• Economic volatility (40%)
• Increased demand for services (30%)