However, the word "donation" does have a common usage as a specialized term. Nonprofits ask for donations to support a cause and have special status with the IRS that makes those donations tax-deductible. A for-profit business that accepts a donation would not be able to supply the same tax-deductible benefit.Soliciting the Public
There is certainly no regulation against a for-profit affair owner asking anybody to supply a dispensation or grant to the calling without the expectation of returning the stuff. A male can inquire a relative to "donate" money to keep a business afloat, or attempt to raise supporting gifts of materials or cash in a variety of ways. Also, some private and public entities provide for-profits with taxable business grants that are, technically, donations.
Exceptions
Donations are gifts or grants and can, technically, be inured to anybody.A donation is a benefaction or a grant prone from one intent to another. The expression is both an Common confabulation and a vocable with a determinate belief in a specific contingency when used by nonprofit organizations to specify a endowment prone with the expectation that it is tax-deductible.
Ordinary Usage
While it is the case that a for-profit business can accept donations, it has to be careful not to run afoul of a state's laws against soliciting the public for donations without registering with the state attorney general. If a for-profit business is asking for "donations," it has to at least make it clear that the business is not a nonprofit.