Instead of local alms, international groups such as CARE and Save the Children span the globe. In most ways, yes. Far more groups help far more people today than ever before. And yet, the gap between rich and poor yawns as widely as ever. But the religious impulse remains strong.
Most major religions emphasize giving and have created organizations to encourage it.
For centuries, wealthy Muslims have left their estates to the church or the community for the betterment of society. The West may have reorganized and secularized charity more than most cultures, but it was a strong Judeo-Christian tradition that fed its beginnings. In 11th century Europe, for example, religiously based hospitals began to join monasteries as dispensers of aid. Later, guilds set up collection boxes to help widows and orphans of deceased members. Gradually, legal procedures for handling wills, deeds, and trusts took hold throughout Europe.