How to Decide Which Charity to Donate to: A Quick Guide

Whether you wish to contribute to local causes or global issues, donating to charity is a powerful way to make a difference. In Canada, you can choose from more than 86,000 registered charities to give to. While it’s great to have options, having such a vast selection can be overwhelming, especially when you’re unsure about which charities align with your values and philanthropic goals. 

To help you decide which charity to donate to, here’s a quick guide you can use to narrow down your options and identify the causes you may want to support:

Reflect on your values 

Deciding which charity to donate to is a deeply personal decision that should reflect your inner values and motivations. You can consider the following when choosing a charity:

• Focus on specific causes: Think about the issues and causes you want to help the most. For example, if you care about animal rights, try focusing on specific animals, wildlife, or conservation efforts.
• Target populations or groups: Identify the groups you wish to help. This could be children, seniors, newcomers to Canada, or another demographic.
• Personal experiences: Reflect on personal experiences that shaped your values and motivations. This might include a family member’s battle with an illness, a passion for a particular sport, activity or hobby, or experiences in your community.

Imagine the impact you want to have

Next, think about the kind of impact you hope to achieve: 

• Local or global: Decide if you want your donations to support local, national, or international causes. Do you prefer your donations to go directly to your own community or do you want to address global challenges?
• Immediate or long-term projects: Determine whether you want to support organizations that do immediate work on the ground, such as food banks and disaster relief or long-term projects like education, conservation, and infrastructure development.
• Philanthropic goals: What are your ultimate philanthropic goals? Are you building a legacy, teaching your children about philanthropy, or supporting your immediate network?

How to research charities before making a donation

You can use this guide to research charities you’d like to donate to. For a quick search on any Canadian registered charity, try looking it up on these online databases:

• Canada Revenue Agency (CRA): You can verify if a charity is registered and in good standing by looking it up on CRA’s Charities Listings. You can search charities by name, location, or registration number.
• Charity Intelligence Canada: You can find detailed reports and ratings on more than 800 Canadian charities on this website, including their governance, transparency, and financial performance.

How to choose a charity to donate to through Charitable Impact

There are a few ways Charitable Impact can help you decide which charities to donate to, such as creating a giving plan and access to all registered Canadian charities.

Giving Plan

Creating a giving plan helps you set clear objectives and a budget for your charitable giving, so you can stay committed to your giving goals over time. You can download this worksheet and create a charitable giving strategy. It’ll guide you through the process of identifying your values, determining your giving approach, and deciding where to give. 

Here are some key questions to consider when making a giving plan:

• Giving frequency: How often do you want to donate? Monthly, quarterly, annually?
• Giving method: Will you give independently, with a partner, or collaboratively with family or community?
• Which name to use: Do you want to give using your personal name, a foundation name, or anonymously?
• Preferences: Are there specific causes that are meaningful to you, such as health, education, environment, etc.?

The benefits of having a Giving Plan

Here are some of the key benefits of having a personalized giving plan:

• More control over your donations: You’ll know exactly where your money is going and how it will be used, ensuring your contributions will make the maximum impact.
• Support a variety of causes: When you plan your donations, you can support a broader range of organizations, including smaller, less-known charities or causes that may be more personal to you.
• Long-term philanthropic goals: A giving plan encourages long-term engagement with the causes you care about. By having a plan, you can provide sustained support to charities, and decide if you want to make regular donations or multi-year commitments.

Find charities through an Impact Account

You can easily find all registered Canadian charities and qualified donees (i.e., municipalities, registered Canadian amateur athletic associations, and arts and culture groups) using Impact Account’s search tool. You can filter results, find charities and Giving Groups that align with your interests, and discover organizations that resonate with your values. Charitable Impact updates the status of charities weekly using data from the CRA to ensure they’re in good standing. Any newly registered charities are included immediately and those that have lost their status are removed.

Purposeful giving that aligns with your charitable goals

Deciding which charity to donate to is an important first step in your philanthropic journey. With Charitable Impact’s free Impact Account, you can research, discover, and donate to organizations and causes that match your values and charitable goals. Check out our online resources to learn more about personalized giving and how you can create a giving plan that enables you to donate with more confidence.