Women Lead Canada's Culture of Giving - And Mothers Are at the Forefront

Charitable Impact sees mothers as the backbone of Canada's generosity economy.

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 8, 2025) - Most of us can remember it clearly: our mother helping a neighbour, volunteering at school, or guiding us to give a few dollars to someone in need. These moments may have seemed small, but they were the beginnings of something much bigger. According to John Bromley, CEO and Founder of Charitable Impact, they are critical building blocks of Canada's generosity economy.

"Too often, we talk about giving in terms of big donations and heroic acts, which can feel out of reach for many of us. We overlook the everyday acts of giving. We don't spend enough time thinking about and acknowledging how and where we learn to give and what our culture of giving is rooted in," says Bromley. "For many people, it starts with their mother."

This Mother's Day, Charitable Impact is shining a light on the often overlooked role mothers and caregivers play in shaping how generosity is lived, taught, and passed on in Canada. From managing family charitable donations and giving time to causes needing support to modelling empathy through everyday actions, mothers are frequently the frontline architects of a culture of giving.

Mothers Are the Infrastructure of Generosity

Across Canada, women are more likely than men to donate money, contribute food, and give material goods. In fact, data shows that more women give financially compared to men; when it comes to food and other goods, the gap widens even further.

These everyday acts of care are part of a broader pattern. Women make up 70% of Canada's nonprofit workforce and are consistently more likely to involve their children in volunteering and charitable activities. "Women have always played a central role in giving whether through managing household budgets, volunteering in their communities, or passing down a family ethos of acting generously," says Bromley. "It's often under the radar, but it's real and it's powerful. That quiet, consistent leadership is critical to the continued development of the next generations of active participants in giving back in Canada. After all, where do you go to learn about giving back?"

Research from Charitable Impact's Charitable Allowance Program, a tool that helps kids learn about charitable giving by practicing it, suggests that the parents most likely to adopt new tools for teaching generosity tend to be moms. They see giving as a core part of raising responsible, community-minded kids.

Broader trends support that insight: a study by the Angus-Reid Institute in partnership with Charitable Impact found that conversations during childhood at home appear to impact giving behaviour. 64% of those categorized as Super Donors - people who give regularly and without being prompted — say they were exposed to concepts of charity and altruism by their parents. In contrast, an equal percentage of those who give almost nothing say they were not.

How Mothers Are Raising the Next Generation of Givers

For Erica Lam, a Vancouver-based mom who signed up her 6-year-old for a Charitable Allowance, generosity has become a regular part of family life. "I often worry about giving my son too much — whether it's new toys, screen time, or saying "yes" too often. Charitable Allowance gave us a way to shift the conversation toward helping others and taking action. When I asked what he cared about, he said cleaning plastic from the oceans, something he had learned about in school. It was really neat to explore that with him, and see him discover what matters to him and how he can respond to it."

As youth engagement in charitable giving continues to decline and societal divisions deepen, the need to teach about giving back and to model ways of doing it has never been more urgent. And that modelling begins where children are shaped most, at home. "We don't raise generous kids by accident," Bromley emphasizes. "It takes intention and often, it starts with mothers saying, 'this matters, here's why, and watch what I'm going to do about it.'"

A tool to build future donors

But mothers don't do it alone. It takes a village of the right people and the right tools. One such tool is Charitable Allowance — a simple way for parents or mentors to set aside funds for the children and youth in their lives to give to causes they care about. It creates space for families to have meaningful conversations about giving and helps children connect their values to real-world action.

This Mother's Day, Recognize the Real Generosity Leaders

Whether it's helping a child donate to a food bank or talking through a cause at bedtime, mothers across Canada are shaping the next generation of donors. This Mother's Day, they deserve more than a thank you. They deserve recognition.

Help your child discover causes they care about

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How to have a conversation with your kid

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How to have a conversation with your kid

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About Charitable Impact

Charitable Impact is a modern giving platform that helps Canadians engage more deeply and intentionally with charitable giving. Operating as a donor-advised fund, it offers flexible tools and support for people to plan their giving, support the causes that matter to them, and collaborate with others to grow their collective impact. Whether giving individually or through communities, users can explore, organize, and amplify their generosity—all in one place.

Since 2011, more than 210,000 people have given through Charitable Impact, donating over $1.5 billion to more than 14,800 registered charities across Canada. Charitable Impact is built on the belief that giving should be accessible, personal, and meaningful—empowering anyone to create the change they want to see in the world.

Learn more at https://charitableimpact.com.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/251129