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FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTSPartnerships 249Limited liability companies 250Trusts 251Estates 252Organizations that are pass-through entities are not entitled to charitable contributiondeductions. The deductions are instead passed through to the shareholders,partners, or members of the organization. 253§ 3.3 MEANING OF CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONAt the simplest definitional level, a charitable contribution is a gift to a charitableorganization. 254 Having explored the concept of a gift, it is appropriate toconsider the meaning of the term charitable for purposes of the law of charitablegiving.(a) IntroductionThe law of charitable organizations is more fundamentally the province of thelaw of tax-exempt organizations. 255 There is not, however, absolute paritybetween the law of tax-exempt organizations and the law of charitable giving onthis point. That is, there are organizations that are considered charitable for purposesof federal income tax exemption but not for purposes of the federalincome tax charitable contribution deduction. Likewise, there are organizationsthat are considered charitable for purposes of the federal charitable deductionsthat are not charitable entities under the tax-exempt organizations rules. This isbecause federal tax law defines organizations that are charitable ones for charitablededuction purposes in a provision of the Internal Revenue Code differentfrom that used for purposes of tax exemption; for charitable giving purposes, thecharitable status does not derive from an organization’s tax exemption but fromits treatment as a charitable donee.248 An S corporation is also known as a small business corporation; this term is derived from the portion of theInternal Revenue Code creating the concept. IRC subch. S, consisting of IRC §§ 1361–1379. A Subchapter Scorporation is a pass-through entity, which means it is not subject to federal income taxation (the taxation isof the shareholders). Discussion of an S corporation as a donor is in § 6.13.249 A partnership also is a pass-through entity (see note 248) (the taxation is of the partners). The federal tax treatmentof partnerships is the subject of IRC subch. K consisting of IRC §§ 701–777. Discussion of a partnershipas a donor is in § 6.14.250 A limited liability company also is a pass-through entity (see note 248), with the incidence of taxation on themembers, in that limited liability companies are generally taxed the same as partnerships. An illustration of alimited liability company as a donor is in § 12.3(f), note 203.251 See, e.g., § 2.8. A discussion of trusts as donors is in § 9.22.252 See § 8.3(a).253 See, e.g., §§ 6.13, 6.14.254 See § 3.1.255 See Tax-Exempt Organizations, particularly pt. 2. 94