Be More Charitable Without Depleting the Bank Account

Do you give to charity?

According to Statistics Canada, Manitoba and Ontario lead the country in donations to charities, and have been setting the trend for the past 10 years.

But, in the past three years, charitable donations have dropped by almost $1 billion, which Statistics Canada says is a result of the recent financial recession.

With fewer people giving, local and national charities are trying to make it easy for Canadians to donate, while Canadians still want to give, but need to make it easier and not necessarily from the bank account. So how to give and not worry about every last cent?
According to finance expert Katie Dunsworth of Smart Cookies Money Mentoring, there are a few key ways to keep your charitable pride, but not compromise the family budget. Her five tips:

1. Mobile Giving or Text to Give - using your mobile phone to text $5 or $10 to a favoured charity gives immediate gratification to both you and the charity and keeps it to a small amount.

2. Donate points - using accumulated air miles or points, for example from Air Miles or Aeroplan, to donate to charity.

3. Give what you buy - support a preferred brand's charitable efforts, buy purchasing a product where the company will donate proceeds to a charity.

4. Donate a minimum of $200, which will enable you to claim a 29 per cent tax credit on your annual income tax.

5. Make sure you donate to a registered Canadian charity to qualify for tax credits - check out the list from the Canada Revenue Agency.

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