
20 Mar Should I say spend or donate money to charity? What’s the difference?
In German and Swiss German, spenden is the verb used when giving something for a good cause. Although it sounds similar to the English verb spend, it doesn’t mean the same thing – another false friend to avoid. In English, the verb used to talk about giving money, clothes or food to charity is donate.

Can you spend some money to charity?
– Swisstake
The Swisstake above should read:
Can you donate some money to charity?
Here are a couple of examples to outline the difference between the two verbs, along with their German and Swiss German equivalents:
Donate
Spend
*Why do words have to be so damn long in German?

Donations aren’t limited to money or goods – one can also donate organs or blood (ein Organ/Blut spenden). If someone decides to donate money, blood or organs, the noun used to talk about them is donor – a blood donor, an organ donor, or simply just a donor if it’s about money.
Word forms
To recap, here are the word forms used:
Noun: donation (thing), donor (person)
Verb: to donate (present: donate, past simple: donated, past participle: donated)