For the second time in two years, Montreal-based Mirego will be donating $ 75,000 on behalf of its employees to charitable organizations. And because she doesn’t want to be the only one to do so, she is now opening her online donation platform to other Quebec businesses who would like to do the same as the holidays approach.
The platform in question is called Project Team Forward and was produced entirely on a voluntary basis in-house by employees of Mirego, which specializes in creating digital solutions for businesses of all kinds, but which has recently joined the ranks of agricultural giant of Rivière-du-Loup Premier Tech. The latter plans to participate in the project by making a contribution on behalf of his own employees to organizations of his choice through the Mirego platform.
“It has always been part of our desire at Mirego to have a greater social impact,” underlines Albert Dang-Vu, partner and co-president of the Montreal SME. “We recently noticed that the most common method for making donations in Quebec today was to issue a paper check, so we decided to create a digital tool that would help local businesses to mobilize more. “
The name Project Team Forward is inspired by an English expression popularized in the year 2000 by the American film. Pay It Forward recounting the snowball effect of an act of generosity towards others performed by a young schoolboy as part of a class assignment. We can say that this is the business version of this act, which consists of giving it to the next.
Beyond the wallet
Mirego’s goal is to encourage around 100 companies to use its platform. This allows each interested employee to see what part of the company’s donation goes to them and to decide to which organization they wish to donate this amount. It can also be divided into several donations to different causes. Mirego undertakes to remit the entire amount entrusted to its digital tool to organizations chosen by its users. No fees are imposed on them.
“The platform was created entirely on a voluntary basis. We want it to remain completely free for those who wish to use it. Our goal is really to help ensure that the total value of the donations we make each year in Quebec increases sustainably, ”says Mr. Dang-Vu.
The young entrepreneur regrets that the average donation in Quebec is lower than that made by individuals living elsewhere in Canada. He is well aware of the cultural differences that explain this situation, but that is no reason to prevent people who want him to be more generous.
Mirego would eventually like to extend the reach of his project beyond the corporate world to raise awareness among a larger part of the population about this form of fundraising for charitable activities. Albert Dang-Vu would like to add other forms of assistance to his platform than cash donations.
“Rather than donating money, people might want to volunteer their time or volunteer for organizations. In fact, we want to increase the number of donors more than the total monetary value of the donations themselves, ”says Albert Dang-Vu.
Our goal is really to help ensure that the total value of the donations we make each year in Quebec increases sustainably.
Generosity gap
The generosity materialized by donations of money is not exclusive to the business world and is gradually gaining popularity in Quebec. After a year 2020 when this practice has become more discreet due to the pandemic, 2021 marks a growth in both the number of donors and the amount of sums given in the province. This is indicated by the 2021 edition of an annual report on Canadian philanthropic trends published by Episode.
Thus, 55% of the 1,502 Quebecers surveyed by the organization between September 9 and 26 say they have made at least one donation this year, compared to 57% of respondents from elsewhere in Canada (out of a total of 2505 people surveyed). In addition, 69% of Quebecers plan to make a donation next year.
The average donation in Quebec in 2021 is $ 240, a peak that brings the province closer to the Canadian average, which is $ 392 this year, down from previous years ($ 412 in 2020 and $ 459 in 2018 ). The gap grows, however, if we exclude from the calculation people who have made no donation: the average value rises to $ 381 in Quebec and $ 689 for the rest of Canada.
“Many times stated in the past, the observation that Canadians from other provinces give more and have a more developed philanthropic culture than that of Quebecers is still in place this year, despite a declining index among people from the rest of Canada. However, the generosity gap between residents of Quebec and those of other provinces in 2018 is now reduced. Let us hope that in the future this gap will continue to narrow, to the advantage of the development of philanthropic culture, ”concludes Episode in his report.