A place of charity and its forms in system of social values

The article deals with the place, role and meaning of charity, an institute of the civil society, its main modern characteristics. It gives the results of all - Russian sociological research of the population's opinion on the charity activity. The article also gives the analysis of the sociological survey carried out among students about the possibility of their participating in socially important charitable actions, their incentives and reasons. The characteristic of research on the basis of gender analysis of the interrogated students is adduced. The conclusions about charity development in the Chelyabinsk region and the Ural social-economic institute are made.