A donation is something you give freely to help a person, group, or cause, without expecting anything back in return. When your family makes a donation to a food bank, you're giving canned goods or money to help feed people who need it. When you donate old clothes to charity, you're giving them away so others can use them.

Unlike selling something (where you get paid) or lending something (where you expect it back), a donation is yours to give completely. Libraries accept book donations from readers. Schools hold donation drives for natural disaster victims. Museums display art from generous donors who wanted to share their collections with everyone.

People donate for many reasons: to support causes they believe in, to help their communities, or to make opportunities possible for others. A donation might be money, but it can also be time, skills, or objects. When a professional musician gives free concerts at a hospital, that's a donation of talent and time.

The act of giving is called donating. Someone who gives is a donor. Whether you're donating a dollar to help build a playground or spending an afternoon cleaning up a park, you're choosing to give something of yours to make things better for others.