The GivingBack database explores how Canadians volunteer their time, donate money, and provide in-kind gifts to charitable and non-profit organizations, with data available at the postal code and dissemination area levels. Based on Statistics Canada’s Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating, the database profiles the philanthropic behaviour of Canadians and offers insights into why they support a particular cause. By combining GivingBack with PRIZM® data, users can segment their donor or alumni databases to allocate resources and develop relevant messages to engage prospective audiences. GivingBack was updated with the latest 2018 data from Statistics Canada’s Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating in 2021.
Below are some additional resources linked: release notes, variable list, metadata, and more.
Additional Resources
Source: Statistics Canada’s Survey of Giving Volunteering and Participating
Canadian Concept of Volunteering
Formal Volunteering
Includes:
- Unpaid work on behalf of groups and organizations
- Mandatory unpaid work
- Employer supported volunteering
- Amounts of less than one hour reported by organization
Excludes:
- Informal volunteering (i.e. not on behalf of groups or organizations)
Informal Volunteering
Includes:
- Helping people directly
- Helping friends, neighbours, acquaintances, colleagues, and relatives living outside the respondent's household
- Improving the community directly
- Amounts of less than one hour reported by category
Excludes:
- Formal volunteering
- Helping anyone living in the respondent's household
- Signing a petition, if no further action was taken
- "Likes" on social media, if no further action was taken
International Concept of Volunteering
Includes:
- Unpaid work on behalf of groups or organizations
- Helping people directly
- Helping friends, neighbours, acquaintances, and colleagues living outside the respondent's household
- Improving the community directly
Excludes:
- Mandatory unpaid work
- Employer supported volunteering
- Helping anyone living in the respondent's household
- Helping relatives living outside the respondent's household
- Signing a petition, if no further action was taken
- "Likes" on social media, if no further action was taken
- Amounts of less than one hour (reported by organization for formal volunteering and by category for informal volunteering)
Helping People Directly: Expanded Descriptions
Cooking, etc.: Hours for tasks such as cooking, cleaning, gardening, maintenance work, painting, snow shovelling, or car repairs.
Shopping, etc.: Hours for shopping, driving or accompanying someone to the store or to an appointment.
Paperwork, etc.: Hours for paperwork tasks such as writing letters, doing taxes, filling out forms, banking, paying bills or finding information.
Health-related, etc.: Hours for health-related or personal care, such as emotional support, counselling, providing advice, visiting the elderly, or unpaid babysitting.
Teaching, etc.: Hours for teaching, coaching, tutoring, or assisting with reading.
Other: Hours for helping people directly in another way.
Improving the Community Directly: Expanded Descriptions
Public Space, etc.: Hours for tasks such as maintaining a park or another public space, planting trees or repairing public facilities.
Public Meetings, etc.: Hours spent participating in any public meetings in which there was discussion of community affairs.
Information, etc.: Hours producing or disseminating information to make others aware of an issue.
Event, etc.: Hours spent organizing or coordinating a group or an event.
Project, etc.: Hours spent helping to develop an economic or social project.
Other: Hours spent on other tasks aimed at improving the community.