Canadian and American donors boosted their giving to health care institutions to historically high levels of more than $10.7 billion, increasing annual donations by a combined total of more than $380 million during the 2013 fiscal year, says the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy.

“These hopeful figures demonstrate the generosity of thousands of donors in the United States and Canada,” says AHP president and CEO Steven W. Churchill.

In Canada, FY 2013 donations exceeded $1.5 billion, more than $100 million higher than in FY 2012 and a half-billion dollars higher than FY 2008’s recession-related low point.

“As the economy improves, Canadian donors are picking up their pace of giving, which is a testament to their support for our world-class hospital systems,” says AHP board member Jory Pritchard-Kerr, executive director at Collingwood General & Marine Hospital Foundation in Ontario.

Return on investment (ROI) figures in FY 2013 for Canada stood at $3.83 for every dollar spent on philanthropic activities, while the cost to raise a dollar– which some see as a measurement of fundraising efficiency – was 26 cents.

The Report on Giving survey and report are sponsored each year by the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy and conducted by the independent research firm Association Research, Inc. A total of 242 U.S. and 49 Canadian institutions submitted data on their philanthropic fundraising activities in their 2013 fiscal years, for response rates of 18 and 25.7 percent respectively. AHP will publish its full report with detailed analysis in November. The report is free to organizations that provided data and available for a fee to all others.

Infographics to download and share, as well as a video message from AHP President and Chief Executive Officer Steven Churchill, are available on the AHP website. For more information, contact Kathy Renzetti, (703) 532-6243, (571) 216-0146 or kathy@ahp.org.