donation

donation, benefaction, contribution, alms are comparable when they denote a gift of money or its equivalent for a charitable, philanthropic, or humanitarian object.

Donation is freely used for such a gift

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blood donations

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seeking small donations for myriad worthy causes

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It may, however, retain in this sense some feeling of its earlier meaning of the act or right (as of a state, a ruler, or a patron) of granting or giving to a subordinate (as a subject or a client) and is, therefore, the normal term to apply to a gift of substantial value, presented more or less publicly, and usually without reference to other givers or gifts

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the endowment funds of the great universities are increased mainly by donations and bequests

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a list of the Rockefeller donations

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Benefaction is often used in place of donation, especially when there is the intent to compliment the donor and to imply his benevolence or the beneficence of his gift. The latter, however, is the basic implication and the word may be appropriately used of any benefit conferred or received whether it has money value or not

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her benefactions are remembered by many philanthropic agencies

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the benefactions of the American GIs to the . . . children of Korea— Hartford Times

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this benefaction totals almost $5 million— Americana Annual

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Contribution implies participation in giving; it is applicable to small as well as large amounts of money; it is the modest term which one may apply to his own gift, though others may rightly call it a donation or benefaction

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please accept my contribution to the endowment fund of your institution

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a community chest contribution

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but the Government quickly came to the rescue, and, aided by private contribution, built a cutoff wall— Amer. Guide Series: Minn.

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Alms implies the aim of relieving poverty either in former times as the fulfillment of a religious obligation or as a practical manifestation of the virtue of charity

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the gift without the giver is bare; who gives himself with his alms feeds three, —himself, his hungering neighbor, and me [Christ]— J. R. Lowell

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or in more recent times as an indication of casual benevolence displayed chiefly in the giving of petty sums to beggars or paupers

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though poor and forced to live on alms— Wordsworth

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a few filthy . . . children, waiting for stray tourists, cried for an alms— Harper's

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Analogous words: grant, subvention, *appropriation, subsidy