Tax-receipt extension helps Christmas-season dependent charities bounce back after postal strike

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/02/2025 (395 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Charities across the country were stung by the month-long Canada Post strike during the busiest donation time of year, but some Manitoba non-profits managed to catch up because of a federal government 2024 donor extension that ends Friday.

Canada Helps, the country’s largest platform for online donating, said an estimated $396 million in expected gifts to non-profit organizations through the mail between Nov. 15 and Dec. 31 shrunk to just $130 million.

The strike, which put a stop to mail delivery across the country, began Nov. 15 and was suspended Dec. 17 when the Canada Industrial Relations Board issued a back-to-work order.

“The loss wasn’t unique to Manitoba — it went across the country,” Canada Helps communications manager Nicole Danesi told the Free Press Wednesday.

“Hopefully, this is a reminder to give before the Feb. 28 deadline.”

The labour dispute occurred at the worst possible time for charitable organizations, the vast majority of which receive the bulk of their annual donations in the run-up to the Christmas holiday season.

There wasn’t time for non-profits to send out their usual end-of-year requests to previous donors when the back-to-work order was issued.

On Dec. 30, the federal government announced the deadline extension for 2024 tax receipt-eligible charitable donations until Friday.

Some local charities were able to make up lost ground by hitting the pavement, picking up the phone and typing on keyboards.

“I think we got our normal amount, but it was a lot harder to get them all,” said David Kron, the Cerebral Palsy Association of Manitoba’s executive director. “I was really worried for a while.

“Thank God the (Canada Revenue Agency) extended the tax date.”

Kron said his relatively small organization relies heavily on cheques sent in the mail. He began phoning regular donors — even going to their doors — when the strike began.

“When someone uses a credit card we lose a percentage,” he said. “The world is going that way, but I still like it when a person sends a cheque. We get the entire amount.”

Main Street Project spokeswoman Cindy Titus said the mail strike forced the organization to come up with an alternative plan.

“We were a bit behind, for sure, with donations,” Titus said. “In the end, I think it all worked out OK, but that’s because we did things to mitigate the consequences. We delivered appeals to peoples’ mailboxes and we phoned our donors, too.

“We’re really great at adjusting and pivoting. We’re nimble in changing course.”

The Kidney Foundation of Canada’s Manitoba branch office was ready to send out their donation requests in November.

“We had the envelopes stuffed and ready to go, but then the strike came,” said community development manager Ashley Tobin. “We

Foundation staff also called and visited regular donors.

“On the positive side, it was nice to connect with people we normally just send mail to,” she said.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca