Definition of donation
Pronunciation
- dōn-ā'shən, IPA: /dəʊˈneɪʃən/, /d@U"neIS@n/
- Audio (US) [?]
- Rhymes: -eɪʃən
Etymology
From Middle French donation, from Latin dōnātiō (a presenting), from dōnāre (to give), from dōnum (a gift). Used in English since the 15th century.
Noun
donation (plural donations)
- A voluntary gift or contribution for a specific cause.
Related terms
Further reading
A donation is a gift given by physical or legal persons, typically for charitable purposes and/or to benefit a cause. A donation may take various forms, including cash, services, new or used goods including clothing, toys, food, vehicles, it also may consist of emergency, relief or humanitarian aid items, development aid support, and can also relate to medical care needs as i.e. blood or organs for transplant. Charitable gifts of goods or services are also called gifts in kind.
Legal aspects
Donations are gifts 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 actually made does it acquire legal status as a transfer or property. In civil law jurisdictions, on the contrary, donations are valid contracts, though they may require some extra formalities, such as being done in writing.
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 special interest groups (see campaign finance).
In countries where there are limits imposed on the freedom of disposition of the testator, there are usually similar limits on donations.
The person or institution giving a gift is called the donor, and the person or institution getting the gift is called the donee.
References:
- Wiktionary. Published under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
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