Charitable donations to the needy members, we hear (4)
I believe the answer is:
alms
'charitable donations to the needy' is the definition.
(historical term for charity given to the poor)
'members we hear' is the wordplay.
'members' becomes 'arms' (arm is a kind of member).
'we hear' shows a homophone (sound like).
'arms' sounds like 'ALMS'.
(Other definitions for alms that I've seen before include "Charitable relief" , "handed over as charity" , "Charitable donations to poor" , "Charitable donations to the needy" , "Charitable offering" .)