Donating in the name of others (your love)

It is possible to donate in the name of a third party, making a gift in honor or in memory of someone or something. Gifts in honor or memory of a third party are made for various reasons, such as holiday gifts, wedding gifts, in memory of somebody who has died, in memory of pets or in the name of groups or associations no longer existing. Memorial gifts are sometimes requested by their survivors (e.g. "in lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to ABC Charity"), usually directing donations to a charitable organization for which the deceased was a donor or volunteer, or for a cause befitting the deceased's priorities in life or manner of death. Memorial donations are also sometimes given by people if they cannot go to the ceremonies.

Legal aspects of Donation

Donations are 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 lobby groups (see campaign finance). Donations to charities are also usually tax deductible. Because this reduces the state's tax income, calls have been raised that the state (and the public in general) should pay more attention towards ensuring that charities actually use this 'tax money' in suitable ways.
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.

Donation

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 offering, services, new or used goods including clothing, toys, food, and 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. The largest form of gifts in kind is created in many nations by the donation of aging automobiles with the item donated being picked up, sold and the proceeds given to the charity or non-profit (type or named) which was the target of the donor's generosity. One standard way of obtaining donations is the use of raffles for the accumulation of funds.

Facebook launches organ donor campaign

Users in the United States and the U.K. can enroll as organ donors via links to official registries on the world's biggest social networking site, said CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The links should make it easier for people who want to donate their organs to sign up.

Facebook users who are already organ donors can add that information to their profile page, now known as their timeline.


Zuckerberg said his friendship with Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs, who had received a liver transplant before he died last year, helped spur the idea, as did talks with his girlfriend Priscilla Chan, a medical student.


More than 112,000 Americans are waiting for organs and 18 people die every day from the lack of available organs, according to Donate Life America, a nonprofit that is teaming with Facebook.


There are currently 92,102 people in the United States waiting for a donor kidney, the organ that is in greatest demand, according to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network.


Last year, only 28,535 kidney transplants took place, with the majority of those donated from deceased donors.

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That disparity leaves many waiting in line for a donor organ to become available, a process that can take three or four years, said Joel Newman, a spokesperson for the United Network for Organ Sharing.


In many cases, people simply do not think about becoming an organ donor, Newman said. He hopes Zuckerberg's call to have people add their donor status to their Facebook Timeline will increase awareness of the need for organ donors.


"Organ donation is generally something many people think is a wonderful thing, but many people just haven't made that decision," Newman said.


Surveys show that as many as 90 per cent of Americans support organ donation, but only about one-third of the 200 million licensed drivers in the US actually tick the box indicating consent to being an organ donor.


In the US, a person dies waiting for a transplant every four hours. While the need for organ donation continues to rise, donation rates have been nearly flat for the past 20 years.

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Sandra Bullock's $25,000 High School Donation Earns Her Top Honour

Sandra Bullock is to be honoured by a high school in Louisiana after donating $25,000 (£15,625) to help students preparing for college.


The Miss Congeniality star cut the big cheque to officials at Warren Eason Charter High School in New Orleans earlier this year (12) and now she's set to be inducted into its Hall of Fame for her generous contributions on 18 May (12).


As part of the ceremony, Bullock's funds will be divided among several graduating seniors in need of financial assistance as they prepare to further their education, according to Fox News.


The actress has a strong connection to the area - her adopted son Louis was born in the city, and in 2010 Bullock helped open an on-campus health clinic at the school after it sustained more than $4 million (£2.5million) in damages in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.


School board member Arthur Hardy previously praised Bullock's philanthropy, saying, "She has been our angel. We love her".

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