Manitoba charities hurt by postal strike grateful for Ottawa’s plan to extend donation deadline

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This article was published 31/12/2024 (254 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ottawa’s pledge to extend the deadline for claiming charitable donations on 2024 tax returns is a relief to Manitoba organizations facing year-end fundraising shortfalls in the wake of a postal strike.

Charities had a nervous wait before the federal government confirmed Monday, one day before the Dec. 31 deadline, that it plans to amend legislation when Parliament resumes to extend the cut-off to Feb. 28.

“We were relieved and excited about the potential to make up for a shortfall, but also trying to figure out how we’re top of mind for people at year-end when they make their donations,” said Anastasia Ziprick, director of development at Main Street Project, which helps people experiencing homelessness, substance use or mental-health issues.

“I think we gave up thinking (the extension) could happen. We were feeling a lot of anxiety that there was only one day left.”

MSP did not disclose how much has been raised so far, but Ziprick said the non-profit is 30 per cent short of where it hoped to be by New Year’s Eve.

Canada’s non-profit sector and premiers lobbied the federal government to extend the deadline, while many charities reported a drop in mail-in donations due to a four-week Canada Post strike that ended Dec. 17.

Charities were unable to send request letters or receive donations by traditional mail during the strike, which overlapped with their busiest time of year and left a significant backlog of items waiting for delivery.

About half of all private donations to MSP are received in December, and many are made via mail-in cheques, Ziprick said.

The Winnipeg-based Ukrainian Canadian Congress said 47 per cent of its donations arrive by cheque.

Ziprick said MSP sent about 5,000 request letters to potential donors via traditional mail the day the strike ended. Emails were sent, as well.

The letters cited a deadline of Dec. 31 for donations to be eligible for tax support on 2024 returns. Ziprick doesn’t expect MSP to send new letters with details of the proposed extension.

Mike Duerksen, CEO of Winnipeg-based BuildGood, which helps non-profits raise funds, said direct mail is such a big revenue driver for charities that some of his clients have received only half of the donations they would typically get in December.

“A lot of charities lost out on revenue, and many feel they probably won’t be able to get it back,” he said.

Online donations are often triggered by direct mail, Duerksen said.

“All of our (email) inboxes are so crowded that mail is still a really good way to stand out and connect with somebody,” he said.

While an extension would bring hope, Duerksen is worried that it could take away some of the urgency that comes with a Dec. 31 deadline.

Organizations that are facing a shortfall have had difficult conversations about budgets for programs and services, he noted.

“November and December often dictate how the next year will go,” he said.

United Way Winnipeg and Winnipeg-based Mennonite Central Committee Canada were grateful for the planned extension.

“We hope this inspires even more Manitobans — who are known for their generosity — to donate in the coming weeks,” Leslie Bais, United Way Winnipeg’s vice-president of strategic partnerships and philanthropy, said in a statement.

As of a few weeks ago, donations to MCC’s Christmas fundraising campaign were down 83 per cent compared with the same time in 2023, said interim senior director of advancement Laura Kalmar.

Many donations are received via cheque. Online donations have increased by 13 per cent this campaign, Kalmar said.

“Manitobans have pivoted and found ways to give,” she said.

Mary Beth Taylor, the Winnipeg Foundation’s vice-president of community generosity, was among those who lobbied for an extension.

“We really welcomed this news,” she said. “This will give an extra two months to make up some of that loss.”

The extension will create “a little bit of a push” for charities to issue tax receipts before a previously set deadline of Feb. 28, Taylor noted.

“I recommend charities have a plan to ensure those tax receipts get out,” she said.

While it would have been nice if the extension was confirmed earlier, the message might have been lost amid some of the national events or issues that were making headlines, Taylor said.

Among them, the resignation of then-finance minister Chrystia Freeland, U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s tariff threats and the potential implications for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Taylor expressed confidence the Liberal minority government’s proposed extension will pass in the House of Commons.

“We are looking for a non-partisan approach,” she said.

Taylor encouraged charities to inform donors of the extension via email, phone calls and social media.

Many do not have the budgets to do a second round of traditional mail-outs, she noted.

Manitoba is Canada’s most charitable province, according to Statistics Canada data. In 2022, nearly one in five (19.3 per cent) tax filers declared a donation on their tax form, with a median donation of $590.

Non-profit institutions represented 8.3 per cent of Canada’s GDP at the end of the 2023-24 fiscal year, a recent StatCan study found.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca