Charity overview

It is important to us that charity is important to you. In fact, we believe that charity is important to everybody! We are not talking about charity solely on the basis of giving time, talents and resources. Charity is way more important that simply giving.

Charity is our opportunity to join with other and with God in making a positive impact in the lives of people who live in this world with us. Charity, when added to a person's life, has profound impact on the giver. Some may see giving as a way of losing something - time, money, etc. In reality, charity is a means of adding so much to our lives.

However, we have to join in charity, in giving, in order to realize its benefits. Generosity has the ability to transform our day to day lives, but it will never be realized unless we engage in it. In this resource area there is content that is meant to help you on your journey of generosity. But first lets look at a basic charity glossary for a quick understanding of how we at Mite define some common words related to charity.

Below are some terms that are commonly used in the nonprofit world and a definition of the term based on Mite's viewpoint:

Charity - is an opportunity for humans to be involved with God in the work that He is doing on the earth.

Nonprofit - an organization which operates to produce the greatest benefit for its donors and those impacted by their generous giving.

Donation - a gift of time, talent and resources.

Mite - although not commonly used in the nonprofit industry, yet, this term refers to the deeper characteristics of giving where a donation becomes a free will offering, given with a joyful and cheerful heart and having tremendous impact on both donor and recipient because the power of God is behind the mite.

Vetting - sometimes referred to as due diligence, this is a process of thorough and comprehensive research into a nonprofit, its operations, its mission and its governance. Mite utilizes this process to validate projects for presentation to our giving community.

Programs - that portion of a nonprofit's operations directly connected to accomplishing the ministry/mission of the organization.

Administration - the organizational operations of a nonprofit that ensure the programs can be accomplished.

Development - sometimes referred to as fundraising, the activities under development at a nonprofit involve the promotion of the organization and its programs in order to raise funding to accomplish the mission.

Governance - often handled through a board of directors and officers of the nonprofit, is a process of checks and balances to prevent the nonprofit from straying from its mission.

Donor - an individual or organization which gives a donation.

Miter - a member of the Mite Giving Community, joined with other like minded Miters to Do Good Globally!

Donor Advised Fund (DAF) - a financial vehicle established within a national foundation entity to allow donors to give large sums and/or assets of an non-cash nature. DAFs are commonly used when donors desire a tax deductible transaction but have not yet identified to which nonprofit they desire to contribute.

Generosity - whether developed through practice, learned from parents and/or mentors or born with the gift, individuals who live generously are know to give of their own resources and/or time.

Charitable Transaction - an interaction between a donor(s) and a recipient(s) of the donation.