Financial Perspective – Donations after death: an important tool for charitable organizations… and for you
Making a donation to a charity upon your death could be a way of maximizing the impact – without putting your children and other heirs at a disadvantage.
The portrait of charitable giving in Canada is paradoxical: while it seems that a smaller percentage of taxpayers are claiming the charitable tax credit, the average amount being donated is rising. This suggests that registered charities are relying on a relatively limited group of donors (fewer than one in five taxpayers), to support them with donations that are getting larger, on average.
Given this context, have you ever wondered about how you could optimize the impact of your own contributions to the causes you care about? One avenue that is often overlooked is arranging for a posthumous donation. In fact, only 5% of Canadians have made provisions for charitable giving in their wills. Yet this could make a big difference to charitable organizations.
Here’s why.