Donation

Donation is a gift for charity, humanitarian aid, or to advantage a cause. A donation may take various forms, comprising of money, alms, services, or goods such as clothing, toys, food, or vehicles. A donation may satisfy medical needs such as blood or organs for transplant. Charitable donations of goods or services are also called gifts in kind. Donations are given without return consideration. This lack of return consideration means that, in common law, an agreement to make a donation is an "imperfect contract void for want of consideration." Only when the donation is made does it acquire legal status as a transfer or property. In politics, the law of some countries may prohibit or restrict the extent to which politicians may accept gifts or donations of large sums of money, especially from business or lobby groups (see campaign finance). Donations of money or property to qualifying charitable organizations are also usually tax deductible. Because this reduces the state's tax income, calls have been raised that the state (and the public in general) should pay more attention towards ensuring that charities use this 'tax money' in appropriate mechanisms. There have been discussions on whether also a donation of time should be tax deductible. The person or institution giving a gift is called the donor, and the person or institution getting the gift is called the donee. It is possible to donate in the name of a third party, making a gift in honor or memory of someone or something. Gifts in honor or memory of a third party are made for various reasons, such as holiday gifts, wedding gifts, in memory of somebody who has died, in memory of pets or in the name of groups or associations that no longer exist. Memorial gifts are sometimes requested by their survivors (e.g. "in lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to ABC Charity"), usually directing donations to a charitable organization for which the deceased was a donor or volunteer, or for a cause befitting the deceased's priorities in life or manner of death. Memorial donations are also sometimes given by people unable to attend the ceremony. There are also circumstances when people like to donate funds to their preferred causes by not revealing their names. Many donors such as public figures or philanthropists like to stay anonymous while making generous donations for various reasons such as to not be asked for money from other organizations or their religious beliefs. Many donors like to stay anonymous because of their religious beliefs or simply don't want any notoriety from giving. So, why don't you support the activity of donations?