page_title: Charity (practice)
section_title: Practice
hierarchical_section_title: Charity (practice) / Practice
caption_attribution_description: English: An aristocratic lady coming out from temple and giving alms. മലയാളം: ക്ഷേത്രദർശനത്തിനു ശേഷം ഭിക്ഷ നൽകുന്ന വനിത.
context_page_description: The practice of charity means the voluntary giving of help to those in need, as a humanitarian act. There are a number of philosophies about charity, often associated with religion. Effective altruism is the use of evidence and reasoning to determine the most effective ways to help others.
context_section_description: Charitable giving is the act of giving money, goods or time to the unfortunate, either directly or by means of a charitable trust or other worthy cause.  Charitable giving as a religious act or duty is referred to as almsgiving or alms. The name stems from the most obvious expression of the virtue of charity; giving the recipients of it the means they need to survive. The impoverished, particularly those widowed or orphaned, and the ailing or injured, are generally regarded as the proper recipients of charity. The people who cannot support themselves and lack outside means of support sometimes become "beggars", directly soliciting aid from strangers encountered in public.
  Some groups regard charity as being distributed towards other members from within their particular group. Although giving to those nearly connected to oneself is sometimes called charity—as in the saying "Charity begins at home"—normally charity denotes giving to those not related, with filial piety and like terms for supporting one's family and friends.  Indeed, treating those related to the giver as if they were strangers in need of charity has led to the figure of speech "as cold as charity"—providing for one's relatives as if they were strangers, without affection.
  Most forms of charity are concerned with providing basic necessities such as food, water, clothing, healthcare and shelter, but other actions may be performed as charity:  visiting the imprisoned or the homebound, ransoming captives, educating orphans, even social movements. Donations to causes that benefit the unfortunate indirectly, such as donations to fund cancer research, are also charity.
  With regards to religious aspects, the recipient of charity may offer to pray for the benefactor. In medieval Europe, it was customary to feast the poor at the funeral in return for their prayers for the deceased.  Institutions may commemorate benefactors by displaying their names, up to naming buildings or even the institution itself after the benefactors.  If the recipient makes material return of more than a token value, the transaction is normally not called charity.
  In the past century, many charitable organizations have created a "charitable model" in which donators give to conglomerates give to recipients. Examples of this include the Make a Wish Foundation (John Cena holds the title for most wishes granted by a single individual, with over 450 wishes) and the World Wildlife Fund. Today some charities have modernized, and allow people to donate online, through websites such as JustGiving. Originally charity entailed the benefactor directly giving the goods to the receiver.  This practice was continued by some individuals, for example, "CNN Hero" Sal Dimiceli, and service organizations, such as the Jaycees. With the rise of more social peer-to-peer processes, many charities are moving away from the charitable model and starting to adopt this more direct donator to recipient approach. Examples of this include Global Giving (direct funding of community development projects in developing countries), DonorsChoose (for US-based projects), PureCharity, Kiva (funding loans administered by microfinance organizations in developing countries) and Zidisha (funding individual microfinance borrowers directly).
  Institutions evolved to carry out the labor of assisting the poor, and these institutions, called charities, provide the bulk of charitable giving today, in terms of monetary value.  These include orphanages, food banks, religious institutes dedicated to care of the poor, hospitals, organizations that visit the homebound and imprisoned, and many others.  Such institutions allow those whose time or inclination does not lend themselves to directly care for the poor to enable others to do so, both by providing money for the work and supporting them while they do the work.  Institutions can also attempt to more effectively sort out the actually needy from those who fraudulently claim charity.  Early Christians particularly recommended the care of the unfortunate to the charge of the local bishop.
  There 
caption: A Hindu Woman Giving Alms, painting by Raja Ravi Varma
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