Most people living in Canada have absolutely no idea that Canada Post is vital to our sector and the work we do. For them, the strike is about parcels. For us, it’s about so much more.

Charities use the mail. Extensively.

Arguably, charities are one of the biggest users of bulk mail through their acquisition and house direct mail programs.

In our 2024 Direct Mail benchmarks research report, we found that the median Canadian charity running a mail program sends about 33,000 pieces of mail a year (and this varies wildly: the 49 charities who participated in our report sent 19.7 million pieces of mail in 2023, and they alone raised $71.8 million dollars!).

There are more than 85,000 registered charities in Canada. If just 10% of them run direct mail programs annually, we can extrapolate that they collectively send more than 280M pieces of mail raising approximately $3.1B. That’s billions of dollars which go towards healthcare, food insecurity, housing, and myriad other vital causes, many of which support equity-deserving communities.

In annual giving (of which direct mail makes up a big chunk), a charity raises anywhere from 30-60% of its annual revenues in the final quarter of year (Oct, Nov, Dec). And, it raises around 20-30% of its annual revenues in the first quarter of a year (Jan, Feb, Mar).

These past 2 months, and the 4 months to come, are the most vital for any charity with an annual giving program. And with no end to the strike on the horizon, this will present significant financial difficulties for all charities.

Why does direct mail matter?

• Direct mail often is a major source of unrestricted revenue, which covers things like salaries, rent, IT and infrastructure.
• We need to be able to pay our staff to deliver on mission work. Around 10% of the Canadian workforce, that’s 2.5 million people, are employed in the charitable sector and their salaries are paid in part with donations received through direct mail.
• 60% of donations that are triggered by the mail are made online. This means that we also expect to see a suppression in online revenue year-over-year because the mail isn’t delivered to trigger those donations.

And yet, none of this is making headlines. Most Canadians have no idea that Canada Post underpins our charitable sector. We must change this narrative.

Want to do even more? The Association of Fundraising Professionals has drafted a letter that you can send to your local MP, and we fully encourage you to do so! Here’s the letter in English and in French.