If asked, however, would you rather see your personal bank charges reduced or a donation made to the needy, I wonder what most Canadians would select. I believe the flaw in all the comments is an unwillingness to come to grips with the fact that we have as a society adopted capitalism and unless you are willing to address fundamental changes to that system, you are not being realistic in suggesting changes at all. Yes Valpy's right. One problem with the tax deduction is that corporations fund what they like, what they agree with and not the rest. It's a cherry picker concept which undermines universality of social welfare and programmes.
Some causes are more in, more 'sexy' than other causes.
With the cuts to core funding of many programmes, and the de-investment by government in many social programmes, some think companies will pick up the slack. There is no evidence this is in fact happening. This is a problem. This meant that certain programmes were created for the common good. Universal access to these programmes were guaranteed.