beneficence

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. The state or quality of being kind, charitable, or beneficial.
2. n. A charitable act or gift.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The practice of doing good; active goodness, kindness, or charity.
2. n. A benefaction; a beneficent act or gift. Synonyms Benevolence, Beneficence, Bounty, Liberality, Generosity, Munificence, Charity. Benevolence, literally well-wishing, is expressive of the disposition to do good; hence it easily came to be applied to charitable gifts. Beneficence, literally well-doing, is the outcome and visible expression of benevolence. It is a strong though general word for active and abundant helpfulness to those who are in need. Benevolence may exist without the means or opportunity for beneficence, but beneficence always presupposes benevolence. Bounty is expressive of kind feeling, but more expressive of abundant giving. Liberality is giving which is large in proportion to the means of the giver. Generosity adds to the notion of liberality that of largeness or nobleness of spirit in connection with the gift. Munificence is giving on a large scale, not restricting itself to necessary things, but giving lavishly; it is the one of these words most likely to be applied to ostentatious or self-seeking liberality, but not necessarily so. Charity, while having the best original meaning, has come to be a general word; as to gifts, it is what is bestowed upon the poor or needy, but not always with warm or kindly feelings: as, official charity.

Wiktionary

1. n. An act of philanthropy, a kind deed; an act which benefits someone (else.)

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. The practice of doing good; active goodness, kindness, or charity; bounty springing from purity and goodness.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. doing good; feeling beneficent
2. n. the quality of being kind or helpful or generous