Contribution vs. Donation

[rainbow402]

“Go to www.HillaryClinton.com,” she said, drawing applause and cheers from her throngs of supporters. “This is your campaign and your moment, and I need your support.”
The prominent mention of her Web site was intentional, part of the Clinton campaign’s recent efforts to keep pace with Senator Barack Obama’s fund-raising juggernaut. The campaign has nearly doubled the volume of her e-mail solicitations, showcased her Web site more at events and intensified online advertisements asking for small contributions.

Dear Teacher,

What's the difference between " contribution" and " donation"? Can I replace the contribution with " donation" in the quote above?

I think contribution implies people who contribute are expecting for return while people donate for nothing. Right?

By the way, I'd like to know how to write " vs" properly. I know vs is short for " verse". Should I Capitalize " V" and add a dot after " s" , that is Vs. ?

Thanks in advance!

[marksandler]

Donation refers to a gift to a charitable organization whereas a contribution is generally associated with a gift to a common fund or collection. Hillary's campaign is not a charitable organization so the use of donation would not be correct.

Verse and versus are different words. Verse is a noun related to writings, a verse from the poem. Verse can also be a verb, but not in your context. Versus is a preposition used to indicate opposition, apples versus oranges. You should spell it out unless using it to report sports scores, and in this context, use the abbreviation vs. with the period.

For more detailed information, I used the following references; the Longman Handbook and dictionary.com.

Mark

[rainbow402]

Mark, thanks for your help. I got it. Er, verses is a typo. I meant versus.

[marksandler]

You're quite welcome.

Pura Vida