modern philanthropists. What is charity

What is charity?

Charity is an activity through which private resources are voluntarily distributed by their owners in order to help people in need, solve social problems, and improve the conditions of public life. The needy in this case refers not only to those living in need, but also those people (civil activists, professionals, artists, students) and public (i.e. non-profit and non-political) organizations who lack additional means to solve individual, professional, cultural and civic tasks. Both financial and material resources, as well as the abilities and energy of people, can act as private resources. In recent decades (at least since the 1960s, when the so-called non-governmental organizations were especially developed), a stable idea of charity has developed not only as monetary and property donations, but also as a gratuitous (voluntary, "volunteer") activity - as a public (i.e. non-commercial and non-political) activity in the proper sense of the word.

As wide world practice shows, charity by and large is like the reverse side of a successful (sometimes dodgy) business. But at the same time, it is by its nature opposite to business: business is acquisitive, focused on making profit, on accumulating funds in order to invest them and make even more profit. Philanthropy, according to the inner meaning of this activity, is disinterested, with its help funds are distributed, profits are squandered. However, the seeming opposition between entrepreneurship and charity is removed by the fact that in social terms they are in many ways different sides of the same coin. And it is no coincidence that almost at all times philanthropy - just as much as entrepreneurship - aroused greedy interest, skepticism, and suspicion as an absolutely necessary, but very often unclean thing. On the one hand, charity was undoubtedly seen as a great blessing and the possibility of salvation for many, even those who had completely lost hope. On the other hand, they saw charity as a source of social and moral evil, "the self-deception of an unclean conscience."

Criticism of charity

The most radical negativity is the point of view according to which charity as such is meaningless and immoral, since it does not correct, but only aggravates the situation of the poor and destitute people. This point of view was consistently expressed, for example, in P. Lafargue's essay "On Charity". Similar arguments were also expressed by L.N. Tolstoy. Radical critics of philanthropy have pointed out that upper-class organized philanthropy is in fact: (a) a type of business (sometimes very profitable), (b) an instrument of political and ideological influence, (c) a means of organized entertainment for the rich, so all the time besides, the organization of philanthropic activities costs more money than those that go to the real help of the suffering. At the same time, the charitable events themselves are staged with such pomp that it is with their form that they attract attention, beckon to themselves.

Other critics pointed to the close relationship between charity and power, in particular the power of the church, which preaches mercy and insists on its benefits. Who collects alms, he distributes it and thus rules. How significant this dependence is can be judged by the fact that the most decisive revolutions in the new European history (such as the Great French and October revolutions in Russia) sooner or later imposed a ban on charitable activities. The scale of charity is sharply limited in any totalitarian state: by prohibiting charity, the state seeks to concentrate distributive functions in its hands and thereby increase its own power.

How fair and correct are such critical arguments? The fact that charity can be organized as entertainment is, of course, bad, but does this mean that charity should be abandoned in general, including organized as entertainment? Likewise, the fact that charity is used to achieve power, to expand influence, at least to influence public opinion, is not yet a reason to condemn charity in itself and refuse it.

At one time, B. Mandeville drew attention to the fact that the motive of charity and mercy, as a rule, is the desire to earn the praise of contemporaries, to remain in the memory of posterity.

Pride and vanity do no honor to anyone. Charity is often joined by pragmatic motives, when, thanks to the wisdom and prudence of the legislator, the amounts spent on charity are not taxed. If we do not expect that a benefactor as such must necessarily: represent a moral character perfect in virtue, then it will be natural to admit: because a socially positive action is performed for such selfish motives, social value the action itself and the significance of charity as a whole does not diminish at all.

Polls and studies conducted by American scientists (for example, R. Whitnow, C. Clary, J. Snyder) allow us to conclude that for many Americans, active participation in charitable events and programs is due, on the one hand, to the desire to resist the ubiquitous mercantilism , to feel like a person, because the work does not give them such a feeling, and to overcome the feeling of guilt towards the disadvantaged and needy, and on the other hand, to enter the group and maintain their belonging to it, learn more about something, develop some skills, get information for career advancement, etc. Not all of these motives can be attributed to highly moral, in the sense of altruistic, but it turns out that selfish motives can work for the common good and contribute to the fact that the number of people involved in charitable programs is growing.

Social critics of charity have repeatedly pointed out that with the help of charity, the propertied classes are trying to buy off the working people they exploit and to remove the sharpness of social antagonisms. Charity is indeed aimed at easing social contradictions. But it must be said that social (state and civil) institutions and mechanisms in any society are designed to “absorb” tensions and conflict. And charity as a public institution, namely, the institution of social assistance, more or less successfully fulfills this socially compensatory role.

One cannot but agree with the sober idea that, in the final analysis, the fundamental goals of charity - ridding society of poverty - can only be achieved through large-scale structural social transformations. However, even with a passionate desire for such a just society, in which there will be no need for charity, charity should not be fundamentally abandoned in the existing imperfect and unjust society. If, however, one does not indulge in hopes for the possibility of establishing such a social order in which there will be no needy, then it must be recognized that charity (at least not as a way to improve society, but as help to specific people) will always be needed.

The negative criticism of philanthropy explicitly or implicitly points to insincerity, hypocrisy, duality of philanthropic activity. This does not take into account that the duality attributed to charity is not essential for it. So, charity, whatever it may be, can be used to camouflage the private interests of the organizers of a charity event. But charity in itself, for example, helping the sick and the poor, or supporting young talents, and the camouflage of particular and corporate interests, are phenomena that are different in nature. Selfishness is not elevated by being cloaked in philanthropy. But philanthropy in itself does not at all arise as a result of self-interest and does not cease to be philanthropy, those. philanthropy, according to its original motives, because self-interest weaves a reliable nest under its roof.

Efficiency criterion

We have seen that the requirement of mercy prescribes the provision of care and assistance to everyone in need, especially those who ask for help. Not to refuse a request for help, to give alms is just courtesy, said Tolstoy. A little differently - in charity, although, as was said, charity is one of the embodiments of mercy.

Discussing the happiness and independence of a person in happiness, Seneca specifically stipulated that the sage will not give up wealth if it is earned or acquired in a righteous way. He will not refuse also because to be able to give - to charity. But he will not give gifts to everyone.

It is impossible to recognize this passage of Seneca as completely strict. The grounds for charity proposed by him need further discussion and clarification. However, Seneca, in fact, was the first to raise the problem of criteria for "selecting candidates" for help. He moved away from a purely moral, normative-universal point of view, according to which, of course, everyone needs help. He posed the question in a pragmatic vein: if there is still not enough for everyone, then to whom?

The problem of the effectiveness of social assistance and the distribution of charitable funds has become especially urgent in modern and recent times, when the processes of industrialization and modernization led to the emergence of a mass of the destitute and the impossibility of providing assistance to them by traditional methods (alms or direct transfer of material resources). When charity ceased to be individual - from person to person - in nature, the question arose about the social consequences of socio-economic components and, ultimately, about justice charitable activities.

In charity, mercy is manifested in a peculiar way. But to the extent that charity becomes a factor in social processes and relations, it must be checked for compliance with justice, i.e. principle, which, in particular, regulates the balance of given and received. A sober pragmatic calculation required that adjustments be made to the practice of charity: charitable actions should not upset the balance of exchange, reduce the value of the distributed good, and contribute to the idleness of the disadvantaged.

Through charitable activities, firstly, the right of anyone in need to help is exercised. But, secondly, charity provokes the emergence of hope for help and the formation of the habit of receiving help. A well-known Confucian wisdom says that it is better to give a net to the hungry and teach him how to fish than to feed him fish all the time, saving him from hunger. Thus, the right of every person to help will be satisfied, and at the same time everyone will be given hope for solving his problems on his own.

Charity, of course, is necessary for those in need. At the same time, it should contribute to reducing the number of people in need of outside help. However, it is charity, organized as a professional and large-scale activity, that gives rise to sections of the population who are doomed to dependency, who are unable, unable and unwilling to help themselves. Philanthropy streamlined causes the emergence of groups of people who live by organizing assistance to the poor. The implicit interest in maintaining poverty and the poor turns out to be an integral part of their professional motivation. Such public assistance, while solving some current problems, gives rise to others, more serious ones: those who live off the aid in any case find themselves humiliated, the feeling of dependence gives rise to irritation, anger, and becomes a source of additional social tension.

Various social thinkers spoke about this with alarm in the middle of the last century. This problem arose with particular acuteness in the second half of our century in the so-called welfare societies, which launched extensive social welfare programs. First of all, the United States, but also Canada, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, France and other economically developed countries are faced with the emergence of a massive and self-reproducing layer of dependents living only on poverty benefits and incapable of anything else than receiving social assistance. .

From a general sociological point of view; through charity, two important social functions are solved: firstly, the function of preserving and reproducing society and, secondly, the function of the development of society, which includes support for socially promising initiatives and undertakings; even partial implementation of which is impossible due to lack of funds.

In this second function, charity should have clear criteria and have the sole purpose of encouraging people in their endeavors, and not indulging them in their dependency. The problem, strictly speaking, is that the provision of the maximum necessary assistance to the minimum degree encourages people to especially rely on it. In this form, this problem was formulated by J.S. Mill. Its theoretical understanding can help determine the criteria for making philanthropic decisions, on the one hand, and evaluate the effectiveness of philanthropic actions, on the other.

Obviously, helping doesn't always corrupt. Help can stimulate initiative, activity, ingenuity. But for this, with the exception of cases when it is necessary to ensure the satisfaction of the elementary needs of people, the help itself must be structured in such a way as to tone up, and not relax the needy, so that external help does not replace the need for self-help. This should be the main criterion for any charitable programs. Mill formulated a kind of "pragmatic rule" of charity.

Charity, of course, should save from hunger and poverty. But charity loses all meaning if it undermines individual industriousness and a person's ability to self-sufficiency.

Charity: ethics or social engineering?

Rethinking the role of charity in the life of society has prepared the intellectual ground for changing the fundamental and pragmatic priorities of charity, for changing the view of charity as an element and factor in public life.

In the second half of the XIX century. in the activities of philanthropic organizations, mainly American ones, a radical change is taking place: charity is less and less seen as a way of distributing benefits to the poor; its task is seen as improving the condition of society as a whole. In particular, it is recognized that charity is designed to provide people not with commodities, but with the means by which they can help themselves; help is thus most definitely seen in the fact that the needy cease to be dependent and can become responsible for their lives. But for this, charity itself as a purposeful activity had to become different: enlightened, scientific, technological, controlled.

Unlike the old philanthropy, which carried the spirit of paternalism, the new philanthropy should become an activity that has in mind the systematic development of society and the large-scale improvement of people's lives. Methodology for a new approach to philanthropy, borrowed from social engineering, was to: (a) formulate the problem in terms of objectively fixed criteria; (b) define verifiable targets; (c) to select means for realizing these goals and achieving constructive practical results.

Remarkable in this regard is the experience of a well-known industrialist and subsequently one of the largest in the 20th century. philanthropists J. Ford. In the spirit of his time, he proceeded from the principle that real help to the needy lies in giving them the opportunity to earn their own living. Like Seneca, Ford was not against philanthropy—he was against extravagance: it is wasteful, by providing organized assistance, to occupy physically and mentally healthy workers in jobs that can use part-time and unskilled labor. An example of a private solution to problems in Detroit, where the Ford factories were located, was the organization on a commercial basis of a free special vocational school for the children of workers and working youth. Ford practically undertook to implement the advice offered by Confucius - to teach how to catch fish, and not distribute it.

However, the turning point in the cause of charity should not be interpreted one-sidedly: to refuse the distribution of goods that are not provided with labor and organize the training and retraining of the needy population. The very problem of organized assistance is heterogeneous in its tasks. The question is not worth it in such a way that it is necessary to stop distributing food and money and start distributing knowledge and skills. People need different things and to different degrees. Someone does not have enough money to organize an exhibition of tropical butterflies, and someone does not know how to feed their child. Therefore, the forms of assistance should be different both in terms of the object (whom they help) and the subject (how they help), and in terms of the social functions of the help itself (what tasks are solved by charitable help).

Today, advanced industrial societies can afford to support large masses of low-income people. Modern charitable projects provide not only for the maintenance of an adequate standard of living for the poor, but on a large scale - financing of various manual, educational, socio-cultural, environmental, etc. programs. However, it would be unrealistic to believe that with their help it is really possible to resolve social contradictions even in the developed societies of the “golden billion” of mankind. Moreover, charity in itself - both as a system of redistribution of wealth and as a sphere of special activity - remains a source of serious problems of a socio-ethical, moral order.

ethical criticism of charity produces a shift in reasoning from pragmatic questions to value and normative ones, and thus leads to more specific and human-oriented topics. Ethical discourse on philanthropy seeks to reveal its moral meaning from the point of view of the commandment of love. In the course of such reasoning, humanity itself becomes clear.

In this regard, the reflections of L.N. Tolstoy and F.M. Dostoevsky about charity. In fact, historically, they date back to the same time when a radical rethinking of the social mission of philanthropy is taking place in Western Europe and America. In Russia at that time there were no conditions for the pragmatization of the principles and methods of philanthropy. But there was no doubt that the Principles and Methods of Philanthropy must meet moral criteria.

Both Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, in their philanthropic practice, accurately pointed out important ethical problems. But in this way, the discussion about charity was translated into a broader, undoubtedly morally and spiritually significant, but problematically different plan - the general moral tasks of a person, ways of his self-mastery and improvement.

Pragmatic-engineering and ethical approaches to charity complement each other in a significant way. It must be borne in mind that the ethical criticism of charity is an important contribution to overcoming, firstly, moral distortions in philanthropy and, secondly, the moral "ambitiousness" of philanthropy (indicating that moral maturity is manifested in charity, but not perfection). person). In the course of utilitarian criticism of charity, fundamental criteria were proposed that brought prudence and calculation to philanthropic activity: free financial resources and material resources should be accumulated with the greatest efficiency and distributed in such a way that the benefit of individuals, if they wish, could maximize the benefit of society as a whole. .

And although within the framework of certain charitable programs these criteria are instrumentalized in accordance with program goals, the overall assessment of specific charitable programs is based on their contribution to the prosperity of society and the well-being of its citizens.

Charity is a manifestation of compassion for one's neighbor and the moral obligation of the possessor to rush to the aid of the have-not.
(Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron, vol. IV, St. Petersburg, 1891)

As long as there are those in need, we have an obligation to help them, not only for their sake, but for our own sake, because by nature we are givers. Even if there were no person left on earth who needs food or money to pay for housing, there would always be a place to provide support and inspiration.

Look around and ask yourself: what can I do to help another person? Don't worry if you can't be as generous as you would like, or if you don't have enough free time to give it to others. There is nothing too small and nothing too big.

All citizens and organizations have the right to freely engage in charitable activities. And sometimes we don’t even realize how easy it is.

What is a benefactor?

By definition Vladimir Dahl, "benefactor, philanthropist-benefactor, benefactor; who does good to others." Vl. I. Dahl. Explanatory dictionary of the living Great Russian language. M., 1989).

A philanthropist is one who voluntarily and disinterestedly transfers his knowledge, abilities, skills, strengths and means for needy people and the public good.

“Then the King will say to those on His right hand: Come, blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry, and you gave Me food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you accepted Me; was naked, and you clothed me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me. Then the righteous will answer Him: Lord! When did we see you hungry and feed you? or thirsty, and drink? When did we see you as a stranger and receive you? or naked and clothed? when did we see you sick, or in prison, and come to you? And the King will answer them: “Truly, I say to you, because you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you did it to Me” (Mt. 25, 36).

Your reputation is impeccable if you have a huge amount of positive media mentions.

“As a person, I make a lot of donations. I donate to churches, I donate to the needs of my community, to the needs of schools. The main thing here is for someone to come and ask. Moreover, I must be convinced that my money will be able to solve some problem, to believe those to whom I donate. At the same time, I am absolutely not interested in the tax benefits that I can get. I donate because it is a tradition that has been created over the years and generations: people should share with those who are having a hard time. Another incentive is prestige. I must do what is expected of a person in a position in society. And participation in charity is always expected from rich people, ”says the American banker Harold S. Johnson, vice president of Provident Bank (Baltimore).

Creating a favorable image of the company - isn't this the goal for businessmen who are striving not for momentary profit, but for long-term and serious work?

In order for a firm to have a favorable opinion, in order to establish good neighborly relations in the region in which it operates, it is impossible to avoid participation in solving local problems. Business must support local cultural, leisure, sports and social events.

The benefit from charity is the creation of a prosperous environment, the improvement of the situation in the region where the company operates.

This may include the improvement of the territory, the financing of culture, and the organization of leisure activities for adolescents, and policing activities.

Improvement of the environment is also achieved through the implementation of environmental projects, cultural heritage sites, housing construction. The direct benefit of such charity is the opportunity to work in a relaxed environment. The indirect benefit is the favorable attitude of local residents and authorities.

The economic microclimate is created thanks to the support of small businesses, labor training (especially for young people), and retraining of the unemployed. It is quite possible that the people who get on their feet with the participation of the firm will be its partners and / or employees.

Another benefit is improved relationships within the firm. Charity fills the activities of the company with the highest meaning, which contributes to the moral development of employees, strengthening the sense of ownership in the affairs of the company.

The firm should also encourage the direct participation of employees in charitable work as volunteers, experts, specialists (for example, lawyers, accountants, advertising specialists, management) sent to charitable organizations. This broadens their horizons, enriches their experience, skills and knowledge, creates new connections, strengthens their sense of self-worth and necessity. This kind of "consequences" of charity will have a very positive impact on the results of the company.

Even the Masters of antiquity derived the rule: "true work is always done simultaneously in three directions: for oneself, for people, for the temple."

Altruism is the destiny of the strong and mature, and not the infantile and romantic, as ordinary citizens believe. We call a person capable of such actions - the Good Creator.

Effective charitable activities:

Makes investing in charity a profitable process;
Is an effective element of PR;
Raises the loyalty of employees, partners and customers;
Brings up the discipline of planning and accounting even free cash;

In any case, the firm's charity should be considered as its investment: each donated ruble should bring the firm the maximum return (in the form of fame, the influx of new customers or partners, increased sales of goods from a favorable environment). But don't count on instant returns!

Charity works for the future. Therefore, each charitable action of the company must be carefully thought out and calculated.

The report on the topic: "Charity" will briefly tell what charity is and what characterizes it.

Charity Message

What is charity?

Charity It implies the provision of charitable assistance to those in need to solve a number of social problems and improve living conditions. In modern society, charity means sponsorship, patronage, social investment and voluntary donations.

In the history of our people, charity is dictated by religious and cultural heritage. After all, earlier only the church was engaged in this type of activity, later the nobility, patrons of art and merchants joined the process.

Common types of charity

Private charity. It is the most common form. It implies a voluntary donation of things and funds, medicines and other resources for the needs of people or individuals.
Corporate charity. It is characterized by support for the needy or social projects. The scope of commercial charity includes the activities of foundations.
Philanthropy. This activity is aimed at improving and preserving the living conditions of all species on Earth - the approval of scientific grants, improving the environment, developing drugs, helping animals, and so on.
. This charity is aimed at supporting art, culture and science. This is not a help to a specific person, but to the role and legacy that this person will leave behind.
Social responsibility. It implies a voluntary mission of the company that goes beyond the legal minimum. It is aimed at the successful development of society and includes the responsibility of a business partner, employer, citizen, participant in social relations. That is, the keyword of this charity is “responsibility”. For example, she is responsible for the development of schools where children study, for protecting the environment that we pollute, for protecting employees who are injured at work, and so on.
Sponsorship. It only partly relates to charity. The fact is that charity implies gratuitous assistance, and sponsorship holds such events to promote oneself as a person or brand.

Forms and purpose of charity

There are such forms of charity:

Transfer of money, property, clothing, food and other resources to those in need.
Financing of medical activity, science and culture.
Disinterested performance of work and provision of services.
Creation of favorable conditions for collective charity.

Probably, today the question of why charity is needed and what its purpose is losing its relevance. There are always those who need support and people who are able to solve problems. Our world is accompanied by wars, environmental threats, poverty, epidemics. And charity is called upon to fight against these companions of our lives.

Contemporary philanthropy

In today's world, huge sums of money are spent on good causes. The most striking and massive promotions that attract everyone's attention are:

Ice Bucket Challenge. This is a worldwide campaign that aims to raise funds in favor of the study of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. In each country, the goals of such charity are different. For example, in Ukraine, money was collected for soldiers in the ATO. The rules of this promotion are quite simple - you need to pour a bucket of cold water on it and pass the challenge on to your three friends. Those who did this within 24 hours had to contribute $10 to the fund, and those who refused had to pay $100. Despite the fact that the Ice Bucket Challenge is the most massive action, it has been criticized more than once. The most famous people on the planet participated in it.
"Chestnut Run". This is the largest mass action in Ukraine, which has been held since 1993. It is dedicated to Independence Day. The funds raised during the campaign were used to purchase materials and equipment for the Center for Pediatric Cardiology. The essence of the "Chestnut Run" is the mass run of athletes in the center of Kiev and the attraction of patrons, sponsors, corporate private philanthropists.

We hope that the report on charity helped you to prepare for the lesson, and you learned a lot of useful information about it. And you can leave your story about charity through the comment form below.

Dear friends!
All antennas and members of the Association have one thing in common - together we try to do something big, bright and GOOD in this world. Often this can be combined with one common word - charity.
If you check Wikipedia, then "Charity is the provision of disinterested (gratuitous or on preferential terms) assistance to those who need it. The main feature of charity is the voluntary choice of the type, time and place, as well as the content of assistance."

Interesting Charity Facts:

1. The first historical evidence of charity in Ancient Russia is considered to be the agreements between Prince Oleg (911) and Prince Igor (945) with Byzantium on the ransom of prisoners, mentioned in The Tale of Bygone Years. With the adoption of Christianity (988), the charity of the poor is overshadowed by a religious feeling and concentrated in churches and monasteries. The participation of the state in the cause of charity was episodic. The most common form of charity was almsgiving, an important ritual for the salvation of the soul. History has preserved the names of princes, boyars and wealthy merchants, who were a model of poverty.

2. Peter I led an uncompromising struggle against begging, which brought moral and economic harm to the state. He first tried to form a system of secular charitable institutions - hospitals, maintained by private donations and combining the features of a hospital, an almshouse and an orphanage. Hospitals appeared in 1715, but for a long time, most of the old people, children and invalids requiring care were still distributed among the monasteries. In the post-Petrine period, there were no significant changes in charity, although the number of charitable institutions gradually increased.

3. The history of secular charity in Russia actually began in the era of Catherine II, when the ideals of European humanism spread throughout society. The first experience of the empress in the matter of public charity was the establishment of foundling homes for foundlings and homeless babies in Moscow (1763) and St. Petersburg (1770). According to the Empress, Orphanages were supposed to "be ... a state institution" and be "forever under special royal patronage", but maintained by "general alms". Over time, they developed into a whole system of institutions for young orphans, which lasted until 1918.

4. According to a study conducted by the Dobro Mail.ru project and VCIOM. Charitable activities are quite popular among Russian Internet users. 76% of them have ever done charity work. The proportion of women who have ever been involved in charity is greater than the proportion of men - 79% and 72%, respectively. Moreover, women significantly more often than men helped with deeds and transferred money to charity. A third of Internet users (31%) have ever transferred money, 24% have helped with a cause, and another 21% have done both.

5. In total, more than 2,500 charitable foundations are registered in Russia, of which about 500 are donor (data as of April 2013).

6. Australia is the most generous country in the 2012 World Charity Rankings. It is followed by Ireland, Canada, New Zealand and the USA. But Russia was only on the 127th line.

7. In the US, charity events are held even in kindergartens. On holidays, children collect bags of clothes and toys, which they donate to help children from low-income families. Already in the elementary grades, schoolchildren put on performances and organize concerts, and the funds collected for tickets are transferred to charitable foundations, including foreign ones.

8. In 2011, Rachel Backvisna, a girl from Seattle, on her ninth birthday, asked her relatives and friends to transfer money to a charity page instead of gifts. So she wanted to collect 300 dollars and donate them to a foundation that built wells for the people of Africa. Rachel managed to save only 220 dollars, and a month and a half later she had an accident and died. The death of the girl attracted public attention, and new donations began to come to her account.

9. In early August 2010, 38 American billionaires signed a pledge to give at least half of their wealth to charity. An initiative called The Giving Pledge was launched by well-known investor Warren Buffett. Among the signatories of the initiative are Microsoft founder Bill Gates, film director George Lucas and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. On December 10, 2010, Mark Zuckerberg and Dustin Moskowitz, founders of the world's largest social network Facebook, joined Warren Buffett's initiative. Together with them, another 15 people joined the initiative encouraging the richest Americans to participate in charity.

10. American businessman Blake Mykoski, while vacationing in Argentina, noticed that many children from poor families walked down the street without shoes. This gave him an idea for a new project: instead of founding another charitable foundation, Mycoskie started a shoe manufacturing venture, TOMS Shoes, using traditional Latin American woven alpargata sandals as the basis for shoe design. And for every pair of shoes sold, the company donates another pair to underprivileged children around the world. As of 2012, more than one million children in 25 countries received TOMS shoes.

In my article I would like to talk about charity

Charity- Providing assistance to those who need it. Charitable activities in Russia are regulated by Federal Law No. 135 of August 11, 1995 “On Charitable Activities and Charitable Organizations”. In addition to the above law, charitable activities are regulated by the relevant provisions of the Constitution (Article 39) and the Civil Code.

At present, people lack a drop of goodness. Day by day they have become dependent on money, and some simply do not even have enough for bread. The purpose of the article is to make people kinder and help those in need who really need help.

There are many organizations and associations of people in Russia that help people. Such organizations are aimed at material, financial support to those who need it. There are such charities as: Charitable Foundation, Church Charity. Charitable foundations help children who suffer from malignant tumors, congenital heart defects, diseases of the central nervous system.

There are many people helping children in orphanages, disabled people in nursing homes. These people are worthy of respect, because recently they have become few. Everyone lives for their own pleasure without thinking that someone needs help. A person is always pleased if he is remembered and remembered, even when he needs it. Charity has been carried out in Russia for a very long time, but those funds do not always reach the right person.

"Only 2% know about the activities of charitable organizations, 21% have heard of such organizations, but know little about their activities, 55% of Russian citizens know nothing about the activities of charitable organizations, and only 2% have come across it personally."

The following main functions of charity in society can be distinguished, these include: economic, social, market, public, political. All of them play a big role in our life.

The forms of charity are actions, fairs, information marathons, collection and transfer of funds to a certain person, charity concerts, lotteries.

Charity originated in Russia. It manifested itself in such qualities as helping the weak, feeding the hungry, giving to the one who asked - these unwritten rules were known even to the Eastern Slavs. In the Middle Ages, charity was one of the main activities of the brotherhoods.

Now it is necessary to educate people in love, respect and compassion.

National tragedies are always an incentive to help people. But human grief is always there, and society, unfortunately, is used to it.

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