charity

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noun

1. Something given to a charity or cause: alms, benefaction, beneficence, contribution, donation, gift, handout, offering, subscription. See give/take/reciprocity.
2. Kindly, charitable interest in others: altruism, beneficence, benevolence, benignancy, benignity, charitableness, goodwill, grace, kindheartedness, kindliness, kindness, philanthropy. See attitude/good attitude/bad attitude/neutral attitude, kind/cruel.
3. Kind, forgiving, or compassionate treatment of or disposition toward others: clemency, grace, lenience, leniency, lenity, mercifulness, mercy. See forgiveness/vindictiveness.
4. Forbearing or lenient treatment: charitableness, forbearance, indulgence, lenience, leniency, lenity, tolerance, toleration. See accept/reject.

n

Definition: generosity, gift
Antonyms: stealing, taking

n

Definition: kindness, compassion
Antonyms: malevolence, uncharitableness, unkindness

The search for ways to improve the health of the public has been a salient goal of private foundations since their emergence as important American social institutions in the early 1900s. In 2000 there were approximately 50,000 private foundations in the United States, with assets of some $450 billion and awarded grants of $27.6 billion. Their share of total voluntary giving, however, was just above 14 percent of the $190 billion contributed by Americans that year—making foundations relatively modest participants in the annual flow of the country's philanthropic dollars. The major share (85%) came from individual charitable gifts and bequests.

Foundation giving, however, tends to be quite different from giving for general charity. The bulk of charitable dollars are devoted to the operational budgets of the churches, rescue squads, shelters, and other local agencies that depend on these funds. In economic terms, charitable dollars are largely consumption dollars. In contrast, foundation dollars are usually targeted on investment spending. They help grantee institutions explore and adopt better ways to do their work, test new ideas, and engage colleges and universities in related research and training. Activities of this type build the future capacity of foundation grantees. In this way foundations have become the largest single source of private investment capital dedicated to the progress of America's helping institutions. The record of foundation giving in public health illustrates their utility over time as publicbenefit investment institutions.

Throughout most of the past century, foundations—especially Rockefeller philanthropies—have been in the forefront of infectious disease control. In combination, the Rockefeller Sanitary Commission, the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, the International Health Board, and the Rockefeller Foundation itself, promoted community sanitation practices and conducted laboratory research leading to the control of such scourges as hookworm, malaria, and yellow fever. Foundations were also involved in the development of the key agents (streptomycin, isoniazid) that brought tuberculosis under control. The advent of HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) infection as a major health problem has also engaged the attention and funding of many foundations. For example, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation underwrote a series of model communitywide HIV-prevention programs.

HIV is a preventable condition calling for public education and therapeutic counseling to produce changes in population and individual behaviors. Similarly, dependence on psychoactive substances, including alcohol, requires behavioral interventions that challenge public health. The Christopher D. Smithers Foundation and the Hanley Family Foundation have worked intensively on this issue, as has the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

As the country enters a new century, public health surveillance has produced evidence of a changing pattern of disease—away from contagious and infectious assaults and toward chronic conditions with high levels of prevalence, mortality, and morbidity. Virtually all of these conditions(e.g., heart disease, cancer) are associated with long-term lifestyle patterns and related environmental factors that call for new and vigorous public health interventions, particularly in the areas of tobacco use and physical activity. Through state and federal agencies, particularly the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the public health community is addressing these issues. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has initiated several programs to stimulate greater private-sector participation. For example, the American Cancer Society has been a major partner in its work with states.

Over the years, foundations have provided considerable leadership to the progress of children's and family services. The Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial helped establish communitywide parenting education initiatives. At about the same time, the Commonwealth Fund founded child guidance clinics and funded related training in psychiatric social work, and in the 1990s it created a model form of well-child care under its Healthy Steps initiative, which brings professionals in child development into frontline pediatric practice. Many other foundations are interested in the early developmental experience of children and their transition to adolescence. Among these are the Annenberg Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, and the Foundation for Child Development. In concert with these and other foundations, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has launched initiatives to improve county-level maternal and child-care systems, establish school-based health centers, assure the completion of immunization schedules, and to institute nurse-home visiting for first-time single mothers. Also, the Johnson Foundation has partnered with other grantmakers to build statewide health and social support services for low-income families. In terms of their investments in public health, concern for the health and well-being of America's children has been a long-standing and major theme of foundation philanthropy.

Improvements in the organization and staffing of public health was accelerated in the 1920s under grants from the Commonwealth Fund to establish a twelve-state series of model county health departments. Operating standards for these projects were developed in cooperation with the American Public Health Association and were widely instituted throughout the country. Professional education for the field became solidly established in 1916 with the founding of the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health under grants from the Rockefeller Foundation. Johns Hopkins formed the prototype school for the establishment by Rockefeller of 22 additional schools in 17 countries.

To assure that education would remain rooted in practice, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation funded an initiative to build formal partnerships between schools of public health, health departments, and community health service agencies. More recently, to address the learning needs of in-service public health staff at both the state and local levels, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation have formed a joint funding program called Turning Points. In addition, working with the National Governors' Association, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is funding a program to accelerate the development of the leadership capacity of state health officers as policymakers, administrators, and advocates for the health of the public.

Finally, public health has great needs for ascertaining the determinants of health and the health and functional status of defined communities. Epidemiology is thus one of the basic disciplines in this field, and this science of measurement has been strengthened through the grantmaking activity of the Milbank Memorial Fund.

(SEE ALSO: Nongovernmental Organizations, United States)

Bibliography

AAFRC Trust for Philanthropy (1999). Giving USA 2000. New York: Author.

The Commonwealth Fund (1962). The Commonwealth Fund Historical Sketch, 1918–1962. New York: Author.

The Foundation Center (2000). The Foundation Yearbook. New York: Author.

Lageman, E. C. (1999). Philanthropic Foundations. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (1992). The Promise at Hand Princeton, NJ: Author.

The Rockefeller Foundation (1964). Toward the Well-Being of Mankind. New York: Author.

— TERRENCE KEENAN

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Charity derives from the Latin for affection, and in general connotes (Christian) love and benevolence.

There is no statutory definition of a charitable organization, but case law in England and Wales has identified four principal charitable purposes, namely trust for: (1) the relief of poverty; (2) the advancement of education; (3) the advancement of religion; (4) other purposes beneficial to the community, not falling under the previous heads. In Scottish law charity identifies trusts for the relief of poverty. The wider account is used by the Inland Revenue, which accords certain fiscal privileges to the charitable form of voluntary organization. There are over 170,000 charities registered with the Charity Commissioners for England and Wales, who exercise the quasi-judicial function of giving advice, investigating, and checking abuse.

In UK law political objects are not charitable, and so political parties and institutions which exist in order to influence government policy on particular issues (i.e. pressure groups) cannot normally be regarded as charitable. However, a charity may conduct reasonable advocacy of causes which directly further its objects and are ancillary to the achievement of those objects.

— Peter Burnell

The Hebrew word for charity is tsedakah, deriving from the root for "justice." A distinction is made in Jewish sources between charity and gemilut ḥasadim (the latter usually translated as "acts of lovingkindness"). Gemilut ḥasadim generally includes all types of aid and assistance to others, e.g., lending one's possessions, visiting the sick, and escorting the dead at a funeral. Thus, in actuality, tsedakah is but one aspect of the broader category of gemilut ḥasadim. The Talmud (Suk. 49b) points out the difference between the two concepts: "There are three ways in which gemilut ḥasadim exceeds charity: charity can be performed only with one's money, while gemilut ḥasadim can be performed with one's body or one's money; charity is only for the poor, whereas gemilut ḥasadim is for the poor and the rich; charity can be only for the living, while gemilut ḥasadim is for the living and the dead."

The Pentateuch makes clear provisions for the poor, when, based on the agrarian society of the time, it demands that the landowner leave for the poor the gleanings, grain forgotten in the field, and the corner of each field (see Agriculture, Laws of). Similarly, in the third and sixth years of the Sabbatical Year cycle, a Tithe had to be given to the poor. Moreover, all financial debts still outstanding at the time of the sabbatical year were canceled.

In the Pentateuch, there appears to be a contradiction regarding the poor. While Deuteronomy 15:4 states, "There shall be no needy among you," a few verses later, (15:11) it says, "There will never cease to be needy ones in your land." Various interpretations have been offered to explain the apparent contradiction. Naḥmanides, for example, saw the first verse as the ideal situation, contingent on all Jews' observing the commandments, whereas the second verse reflects the reality---that people are imperfect. It is following the second statement that the Pentateuch commands: "You shall surely open your hand to the poor and the destitute in your land."

According to the rabbis, the manner in which charity is given adds to the value of the deed. R. Eleazar said: "The reward that is paid for giving charity is directly related to the kindness with which it is given" (Suk. 49b). Charity, together with prayer and repentance during the Ten Days of Penitence, can cancel an adverse Divine decree regarding the coming year. Maimonides, in his Laws of Gifts to the Poor (10:7ff.), notes eight degrees of charity, the highest of which is enabling a poor person to become self-sufficient, as, for example, establishing the person in business. The next highest is giving charity such that the donor and the recipient are ignorant of each other's identity. The lowest of these levels is giving charity to another while visibly showing resentment.

The amount one ought to give to charity (there is a dispute whether the figure is ordained by biblical law, rabbinic law, or by custom) is 1/10th of one's initial capital and 1/10th of all subsequent earnings. The Talmud nevertheless cautions that one should not give more than one fifth of his earnings, for by doing so, he may become destitute and need to be supported himself.

The Talmud defines a poor person entitled to receive charity as one whose total assets do not exceed 200 zuz. The amount that an individual should be given appears to be relative: according to Hillel (Ket. 67b), the person should be given enough for him not to feel deprived relative to his former lifestyle. Jewish law is also sensitive to needs in specific instances. Thus a farmer whose gross assets may be in excess of the allowable limit is permitted to receive charity if the alternative would be selling his land at a depressed price. At the same time, a person ought to do everything possible to avoid taking charity; the Talmud counsels, "Make your Sabbath into a weekday (i.e., do not purchase delicacies for the Sabbath) rather than be forced to depend upon human beings." One who takes charity when he has no right to, will ultimately have to accept charity out of need.

The traditional Jewish Community contained various organizations that disbursed charitable funds. For example, there were funds for hospitality to wayfarers, funds to redeem those taken captive, to buy Passover supplies for the needy, and to bury the indigent.

Besides the straightforward donation of money to the poor, certain other expenditures are also considered to be charity in the halakhic sense. Thus, if one is of very limited means, his support of his children above the age at which they are deemed capable of supporting themselves is considered charity. The same applies to a person who supports his parents. Donating money to an individual to enable him to study Torah or directly to a Torah institution is also considered charity.

Contemporary rabbinic authorities differ as to whether the purchase of a seat in a synagogue is considered a charitable contribution or merely payment for services rendered.

There are also criteria of priority in the allocation of charity. The general rule states that "the poor of one's own community take precedence." (This rule is further refined to give precedence to the poor members of one's own family.) The poor of the Land of Israel take precedence over the poor of other lands, but whether the poor of the Land of Israel take precedence over the poor of one's own city is a matter of rabbinic dispute. Women take precedence over men.

Every town in which there are Jews is required to have a charity fund, with at least two individuals appointed to administer it (Maimonides, Laws of Gifts to the Poor, 9:1). As the Talmud explains, the basic charity fund, named kuppah---or "the chest"---must disburse a full week's needs to every poor family each Friday. Some cities had an additional fund, named tamḥui, which would collect food from various householders and would distribute enough for two meals each evening to those in need. While the kuppah was available only to local residents, the tamḥui was open to anyone in need, and helped wayfarers who were passing through. There are clear criteria as to who must contribute toward the different needs of the poor. Thus, one who has lived in a town for 30 days must donate to the kuppah, while one who has been a resident for three months must contribute to the tamḥui.

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In former times, it was quite common for people to leave money in their wills for the relief of the local poor or other good causes. The care of the poor was viewed as a local affair and many bequests were for purely altruistic motives, but in pre-Reformation times there was the added bonus of ensuring that people gathered to pray for your soul, and as this became forbidden, ‘being remembered’ became a major factor. Some benefactors sought to set up lasting memorials to themselves by arranging for a perpetual charity, and this needed a regular supply of money and some form of trustees. The money was often supplied by leaving land for the purpose, which could either be rented out or its crops sold to finance the charity. Some benefactors indulged themselves with strange complicated bequests, laying down many rules and regulations, and often stipulating that the charity be distributed over their grave. Over the years, however, social changes have often made a nonsense of the charity, and the money involved has usually become negligible. Of more interest to folklorists, however, is that the original documentation has often been lost and the charity has become a custom. Small changes have crept in, and what may have made sense at the beginning has lost any rational explanation. In the absence of real information (or, in some cases, in the absence of any interesting information) legends have been created to explain, and as these are necessarily post facto creations, they fit the bill nicely. These legends then begin a life of their own. Lack of space precludes the inclusion of most surviving charities, but see Shuel, 1985; Kightly, 1986; H. Edwards, A Collection of Old English Customs and Curious Bequests and Charities (1842).

This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

Organizations created for the purpose of philanthropic rather than pecuniary pursuits.

A charity is a group designed to benefit society or a specific group of people. Its purpose may be educational, humanitarian, or religious. A charity goes beyond giving relief to the indigent, extending to the promotion of happiness and the support of many worthy causes.

The law favors charities because they promote goodwill and lessen the government's burdens. They are therefore ordinarily exempt from paying income or property taxes.

Charitable Gifts and Trusts

A charitable gift is something that is donated by an individual or organization with the intent to benefit the public or some segment of it as a whole. It is meant for use by an indefinite number of people. Similarly, charitable trusts or public trusts are trusts of religious, political, or general social interests, or for the relief of poverty or the advancement of education.

Charities are ordinarily supported by gifts from donors and most states have set forth statutes controlling the manner in which funds are solicited for charities. In addition, the state will generally require charities to disclose their financial structure and condition.

Charitable gifts are often testamentary, or created by will. If there is a problem in determining the actual donative intent of the testator, the court might have to pass on his or her intent. Cy pres is a doctrine applied by a court so that it can carry out a trust made by will for charitable purposes even when the testator's charitable purpose can not be accomplished in the precise manner specified by the testator. For example, if a testator wished to donate money to a certain hospital whose name had changed, for example, this would not defeat the gift. With cy-pres the court would interpret the donor's intent to be to give money to the hospital in spite of the change of name.

Charitable Societies and Institutions

To determine whether an institution is charitable, the test is whether its major purpose is to aid others or to make a profit.

Charitable corporations are nonprofit corporations that have been created to minister to the physical needs of the indigent or to advance a particular goal, such as the aid of a particular religious group or country. In order to receive a tax-exempt status, such organizations must meet certain criteria.

Ordinarily, charitable corporations have no capital stock and they obtain their funds primarily from private and public charity. These funds are held in trust to serve the charitable objects of the institutions.

Beneficial associations also exist mainly for a charitable purpose and not for financial gain.

Religious organizations, such as the Young Men's and Women's Christian Associations and the Salvation Army, are also considered to be charitable societies.

The test for determining whether or not an educational institution is a charitable organization is the question of whether it exists for a public purpose or for a private gain.

While charities may charge a nominal fee for some of their services and still be considered charitable societies, they are organized primarily for the public good and not for profit.

IN BRIEF: The giving of money or help to those in need. Also: Kindness toward other people.

Peace, like charity, begins at home. — Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945).

LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!

Quotes:

"The living need charity more than the dead." - George Arnold

"Should we grieve over a little misplaced charity, when an all knowing, all wise Being showers down every day his benefits on the unthankful and undeserving?" - Francis Atterbury

"Charity is no substitute for justice withheld." - St. Augustine

"In charity there is no excess." - Francis Bacon

"Every charitable act is a stepping stone towards heaven." - Henry Ward Beecher

"And now abideth faith, hope and charity, these three, but the greatest of these is charity. [Corinthians]" - Bible

See more famous quotes about Charity

For a list of words related to charity, see:

• Spending, Receiving, and Possessing Wealth - charity: money given voluntarily to help those in need
• Religious States and Experiences - charity: love for one’s fellow man and acts conveying such goodwill

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See words rhyming with "charity."

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - velgørenhed

idioms:

• charity begins at home    man skal feje for sin egen dør
• charity shop    forretning der arbejder for velgørende formål

Nederlands (Dutch)
liefdadigheid, menslievendheid, aalmoes, liefdadigheids- instelling

Français (French)
n. - charité, bénévolat, ¯uvre de bienfaisance, aumône, organisation caritative

idioms:

• charity begins at home    charité bien ordonnée commence toujours par soi-même
• charity shop    magasin d'articles d'occasion (vendus au profit d'une ¯uvre de bienfaisance)

Deutsch (German)
n. - Wohltätigkeit, Nächstenliebe, Nachsicht, Almosen, Hilfswerk

idioms:

• charity begins at home    die Nächstenliebe beginnt zu Hause
• charity shop    Laden, dessen Einnahmen einem wohltätigen Zweck zugutekommt

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (χριστιανική) αγάπη, αγαθοεργία, φιλανθρωπική δωρεά, φιλανθρωπικό ίδρυμα, ευσπλαχνία, έλεος

idioms:

• charity begins at home    ο παπάς βλογάει τα γένια του πρώτα!
• charity shop    κατάστημα πώλησης μεταχειρισμένων ειδών (για φιλανθρωπικούς σκοπούς)

Italiano (Italian)
carità, beneficenza, elemosina, istituzione di beneficenza

idioms:

• charity shop    negozio di beneficenza

Português (Portuguese)
n. - caridade (f), instituição (f) de caridade, obra (f) de caridade

idioms:

• charity shop    loja (f) de caridade, bazar (m)

Русский (Russian)
благотворительность, милостыня, благотворительная организация

idioms:

• charity shop    магазин уцененных товаров в пользу благотворительной цели

Español (Spanish)
n. - caridad, comprensión, benevolencia, institución de beneficencia

idioms:

• charity begins at home    la caridad comienza en casa
• charity shop    tienda para venta benéfica de artículos usados

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - människokärlek, mildhet (i omdöme), barmhärtighet, välgörenhetsinrättning

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
慈善, 慈善团体, 施舍

idioms:

• charity begins at home    施舍先及亲友
• charity shop    慈善商店

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 慈善, 慈善團體, 施捨

idioms:

• charity begins at home    施捨先及親友
• charity shop    慈善商店

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 자애, 자선 , 자선단체

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 思いやり, 寛容, 慈善, 慈善団体, 愛

idioms:

• charity begins at home    慈愛は我が家から始まる
• charity shop    チャリティショップ

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) احسان, بر, خير, صدقه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮צדקה, נדיבות-לב, טוב-לב, מוסד צדקה, רחמים, סובלנות כלפי אחרים, מתן נדבות, אהבת הזולת‬

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