Yasin Kherani and his wife, Safira Teja, got into the giving habit early and now donate a dedicated amount.Supplied
When Yasin Kherani was in high school in Ottawa, his mother, a hospital pharmacist, participated in a 5K walk to raise money for a thrombosis unit. He chipped in a small donation, later doing the same for his sister’s 5K fundraising run. That early habit of giving stuck with him.
Mr. Kherani, now 27, and his wife Safira Teja, set aside about 8 per cent to 10 per cent of their income for causes they care about.
They live in Calgary, where Mr. Kherani works in sales for a tech consulting company and Ms. Teja is a veterinarian. The couple split their gifts across a several charities, from the Calgary Humane Society, to a local food bank, to Discovery House, which supports women and children fleeing domestic violence.
They don’t think of their money as theirs alone. “It’s for other people. We feel lucky to be in the situation we are in financially,” Mr. Kherani says.
For non-profits, engaging younger donors is an immediate challenge and a long-term opportunity.
Across Canada, those who give tend to be older, wealthier and smaller in number. According to a 2024 report from the Fraser Institute, the percentage of Canadian tax filers donating to charities fell to 17.1 per cent in 2022, from 22.4 per cent in 2012.
Non-profits are tasked with meeting today’s fundraising targets to stay afloat, while planting seeds with younger donors such as Mr. Kherani and Ms. Teja – efforts that may not bear fruit for years. Young people are passionate, but they are also strapped for cash, says Samantha Reusch, executive director for Apathy is Boring, a Montreal-based charity focused on youth civic engagement.
The Angus Reid Institute has found that just 8 per cent of 18- to 24-year-olds were concerned about jobs and unemployment in 2022. By the end of 2024, this had more than doubled to 18 per cent. While young people may not be able to give larger sums, they can still contribute to non-profits through volunteering, Ms. Reusch says. By promoting other ways to give, charities can start a relationship with younger supporters that might endure.
When he first moved to Calgary, Mr. Kherani volunteered with the Ronald McDonald House. “If you don’t have the means to donate, start with giving your time,” he says.
Many charities are taking the long view. At the National Arts Centre (NAC) in Ottawa, the first job isn’t a donation ask, it’s getting people in the door. “Audience members are most likely to become donors,” says Juniper Locilento, CEO of the NAC Foundation.
In Ottawa, the National Arts Centre aims to bring in younger audience as part of the effort to nurture future donors.Supplied/Curtis Perry
The NAC’s Under30 ticket program offers $15 entry to select shows, and it has seen younger and more diverse patrons as a result. The aim is to build connections at age 25, so that at age 55, donating feels like a natural inclination. “You’re literally talking about a 30-year timeline,” Ms. Locilento says.
Compared with causes such as climate change and social justice, which see a great deal of youth backing, the arts can lack urgency, Ms. Locilento adds. One solution is to link the arts to values. For example, she notes that the NAC is the only national arts centre in the world to have an Indigenous theatre.
While the NAC’s best opportunities for donations come from people over the age of 75, Ms. Locilento says, “if we only focus [there], there will be nobody coming along.”
Early giving habits can expand. When Mr. Kherani first started working in an entry-level job, while Ms. Teja was still in school, money was tight. They skipped small luxuries, such as coffee shop runs, to stay committed to donating. Today, they track their giving carefully, and they require a threshold that at least 80 cents per dollar goes to the cause itself.
Seeing the results up close also makes a difference, which Mr. Kherani felt after visiting an Edmonton charity called Parachutes for Pets. “We met people, we talked about the impact the organization was having, and we actually increased our donation after that.”
Ms. Locilento says the job of a fundraising professional is to make the experience meaningful enough so that people will give “if and when they’re ready, because it matters to them.”