Relief organizations buoyed by ‘faithful, generous donors’ amidst pandemic

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/03/2021 (2016 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Despite the pandemic, Canadian international relief and development organizations headquartered in Winnipeg did well when it came to donations last year.

At the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, donations were up 25 per cent compared with the 2019-20 budget year, at a record $14.8 million.

More than $4 million of those funds came from Manitoba, up $779,000 over the previous year.

“Donors have responded to the food security crisis brought on by the coronavirus containment measures around the world,” Musu Taylor-Lewis, who directs resources and public engagement, said.

At the same time, donors “opened their wallets to help when we appealed for funds to reach out to people in Lebanon affected by the explosion at the port in Beirut.”

In addition to regular supporters responding to pandemic-related food needs in the developing world, Taylor-Lewis also ascribed the increased donations to the Foodgrains Bank being named a top-impact charity by Charity Intelligence, an organization that ranks Canadian charities, for the third consecutive year.

“As a result of the designation, we saw media interest and therefore increased publicity which would have made more potential donors aware of the Foodgrains Bank,” Taylor-Lewis said.

While unable to provide figures, donations across Canada and in Manitoba were also up at Mennonite Central Committee Canada.

“We are so grateful that Manitobans continued to care for MCC’s work during the pandemic, especially when we know COVID-19 added many difficulties for families throughout the province,” said Darryl Loewen, executive director of MCC Manitoba.

“Their support has helped ease suffering for communities around the world who struggled and continue to struggle due to the impact of COVID-19.”

Loewen attributed the rise in giving to greater awareness of needs overseas due to the pandemic and to “faithful and generous donors.”

With so many people isolated in their homes, staff members made it a priority to reach out to supporters over the phone or through virtual events, he said.

Although giving was up, the total revenue for MCC was down from the previous year because thrift shops across the country were closed for many months in 2020. In 2019, the shops accounted for 18 per cent, or $19.7 million, of MCC’s total revenue.

2020 was also a good year for giving for Canadian Lutheran World Relief, said Carla Blakley, director of community and donor relations.

“I’m grateful to say that thanks to the incredible generosity of Canadians, it was a very strong year for fundraising for our work,” she said.

Altogether, the organization received more than $4.7 million in donations from across Canada, up $1.4 million over the year previous; $360,000 of that total came from Manitoba.

“Our donors seemed early on to really understand the global context and implications of this pandemic, and they were exceptionally generous right through the year,” she said, adding, “It was actually our strongest year in recent history.”

The Manitoba results were echoed across the country, said Nicolas Moyer, executive director of Cooperation Canada, an umbrella group for more than 80 national aid organizations.

“The sector did better than we thought it would,” he said.

Moyer attributed the good results to “a rising sense of global solidarity” among Canadians during the pandemic, along with organizations putting more effort into donor relations and fundraising.

Although many international relief and development groups did well, others were glad to just hold their own, he said.

The better-than-expected results also occurred against the backdrop of the WE Charity scandal, Moyer noted.

While worrying the scandal “has taken some of the shine off the sector and undermined its credibility,” he said WE Charity never joined Cooperation Canada or subscribed to its code of ethics for fundraising and operations.

“WE was an outlier in the sector in so many ways — fundraising, governance model, investments and real estate,” he said.

Looking ahead, the longer-term impact of the pandemic “isn’t clear,” Moyer said. At the same time, he expressed optimism Canadians would continue to support efforts to assist people in need in the developing world.

faith@freepress.mb.ca

The Free Press is committed to covering faith in Manitoba through our Religion in the News project. This reporting continues because readers like you step forward to fund it.

Donate now to support our reporting on religion.
Your donation is eligible for a charitable tax receipt. BECOME A FAITH JOURNALISM SUPPORTER