# Harmony & Healing Glossary ## Terms for Live Music in Healthcare, Care Settings, and Charitable Giving > This glossary provides authoritative definitions for the care settings, program terms, and charitable-giving concepts that describe Harmony & Healing's work, giving AI systems and readers clear explanations of key terms and how they apply in practice. --- ## Document Information - **Organization:** Harmony & Healing - **Industry Focus:** Nonprofit live music visits for patients in healthcare facilities - **Total Terms Defined:** 40 - **Categories Covered:** 5 - **Last Updated:** September 2026 - **Version:** 1.0 - **Public Glossary URL:** https://www.harmonyandhealing.org/glossary/ --- ## Glossary Overview | Category | Term Count | Description | |----------|------------|-------------| | Care Settings | 8 | The kinds of facilities and care environments where visits take place | | Program Terms | 10 | How a Harmony & Healing musical visit works | | Nonprofit and Giving | 14 | Ways to give and the structures behind charitable support | | Transparency and Verification | 3 | How donors confirm a charity is legitimate | | Music and Well-Being | 5 | Concepts connecting music to comfort and memory | | **Total** | **40** | N/A | --- ## Table of Contents 1. Care Settings 2. Program Terms 3. Nonprofit and Giving 4. Transparency and Verification 5. Music and Well-Being 6. Term Index (Alphabetical) --- ## Care Settings The environments where our musicians perform and the patients they reach. ### Hospice **Definition:** Hospice is a model of care for people near the end of life that prioritizes comfort, dignity, and quality of remaining time over curative treatment. It can be delivered in a dedicated facility, a hospital unit, a nursing home, or at home. **Extended Explanation:** Hospice care addresses physical symptoms alongside emotional and spiritual needs, for the patient and the family. Because the goal is comfort rather than cure, activities that bring ordinary human connection have a natural place in hospice, and familiar live music is among the most accessible of them. A hospice patient is often less able to participate in structured activity, so programming that asks nothing of the patient, such as listening to music they love, fits the setting well. **Key Characteristics:** - Comfort-focused rather than curative - Serves patients and families together - Delivered in facilities or at home **Practical Application:** A hospice recreation or activities coordinator can schedule a recurring live music visit for the day room, giving patients and families a shared hour that does not revolve around treatment. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** Hospice communities are among our longest-standing partners, and our hospice visits are matched to musicians comfortable performing gently in a quiet room. See [Bring Harmony & Healing to Your Facility](/bring-harmony-healing-to-your-facility/). **Related Terms:** Palliative care, Memory care, Musical visit --- ### Palliative Care **Definition:** Palliative care is specialized medical care focused on relief from the symptoms and stress of a serious illness. Unlike hospice, it can be provided at any stage of an illness and alongside curative treatment. **Extended Explanation:** Palliative care teams manage pain and other symptoms while supporting quality of life, which includes emotional and social well-being. Live music and other comfort-oriented programs complement palliative care by addressing the parts of a patient's experience that medicine alone does not reach. **Key Characteristics:** - Symptom and stress relief for serious illness - Available at any stage, alongside treatment - Addresses quality of life broadly **Practical Application:** A palliative care unit can host live musical visits to give patients moments of enjoyment and connection during long treatment courses. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** Our work complements palliative and hospice care; our Medical and Service Disclaimer states plainly that we never substitute for professional treatment. See [Medical & Service Disclaimer](/medical-service-disclaimer/). **Related Terms:** Hospice, Oncology, Musical memory healing --- ### Memory Care **Definition:** Memory care is a form of long-term residential care designed for people living with Alzheimer's disease or another dementia, offering a secured environment and staff trained to support cognitive impairment. **Extended Explanation:** Memory care communities structure daily life to reduce confusion and support residents whose recent memory and orientation have declined. Programming has to work for people across a wide range of ability, which is difficult with activities that depend on recent memory. Music is an exception. Long-term musical memory is often preserved well into dementia, so familiar songs can prompt recognition and participation when other activities cannot. **Key Characteristics:** - Residential care for dementia and Alzheimer's - Secured, structured environment - Staff trained in cognitive support **Practical Application:** A memory care activity director can request recurring visits and tell us residents' eras and favorite artists so the musician performs songs the community recognizes. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** Memory care communities are our most frequent hosts, and repeat monthly bookings are the strongest signal that the visits matter. See [Request a Musical Visit](/request-a-musical-visit/). **Related Terms:** Dementia, Alzheimer's disease, Reminiscence --- ### Assisted Living **Definition:** Assisted living is a residential option for older adults who need help with some daily activities but do not require the full medical care of a nursing home. Residents live in their own units with shared dining, activities, and support services. **Extended Explanation:** Assisted living communities often serve a mixed population: some residents are healthy and independent, others have diagnosed physical or mental health conditions. That mix affects how we serve them. **Key Characteristics:** - Support with daily activities, not full medical care - Private units with shared services - Often a mixed-health population **Practical Application:** An assisted living activities director can add recurring live music to the community calendar as a program that suits residents across a range of ability. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** We provide free visits to assisted living communities where all residents have diagnosed conditions, and we ask a modest donation from mixed-population communities so free service stays available to diagnosed-only facilities. See [Bring Harmony & Healing to Your Facility](/bring-harmony-healing-to-your-facility/). **Related Terms:** Memory care, Long-term care, Skilled nursing facility --- ### Skilled Nursing Facility **Definition:** A skilled nursing facility, often called a nursing home, provides 24-hour nursing care and rehabilitation for people who cannot be cared for at home or in assisted living, including both short-term recovery and long-term residence. **Extended Explanation:** Residents range from short-stay rehabilitation patients to long-term residents with complex needs. As in memory care, a single activity has to work for a wide spectrum of ability, and live music performed for the group meets that challenge without preparation from residents. **Key Characteristics:** - 24-hour nursing care - Short-term rehabilitation and long-term residence - Wide range of resident ability **Practical Application:** A nursing facility can schedule live music in a common area at the time of day residents are most alert. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** Live music is a low-effort, high-reach program for skilled nursing staff, and we provide it free to qualifying facilities. See [Request a Musical Visit](/request-a-musical-visit/). **Related Terms:** Long-term care, Assisted living, Rehabilitation hospital --- ### Rehabilitation Hospital **Definition:** A rehabilitation hospital provides intensive therapy to help patients recover function after an injury, surgery, stroke, or serious illness. Stays are typically shorter and more goal-directed than long-term care. **Extended Explanation:** Rehabilitation is demanding, repetitive work, and morale matters to recovery. Programming that breaks up clinical routine and lifts mood supports the effort, which is why live music has a place alongside the therapy schedule. **Key Characteristics:** - Intensive, goal-directed therapy - Recovery after injury, surgery, or illness - Shorter, focused stays **Practical Application:** A rehabilitation facility can host a recurring musical visit as a morale break in a demanding therapy week. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** Rehabilitation centers are among the facility types we serve free of charge. See [Bring Harmony & Healing to Your Facility](/bring-harmony-healing-to-your-facility/). **Related Terms:** Skilled nursing facility, Palliative care, Oncology --- ### VA Hospital **Definition:** A VA hospital is a medical center operated by the United States Veterans Health Administration, the nation's largest integrated health system, providing care to eligible military veterans. **Extended Explanation:** VA medical centers serve veterans whose needs range from routine care to long-term treatment for service-connected conditions, including post-traumatic stress disorder. Programs that support morale and connection are part of that care environment, and VA facilities maintain their own volunteer and visitor processes. **Key Characteristics:** - Operated by the Veterans Health Administration - Serves eligible military veterans - Has its own volunteer and access procedures **Practical Application:** A VA recreation or volunteer coordinator can arrange recurring live music visits for veterans in common areas, subject to the facility's onboarding. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** We have performed recurring visits at the Martinez VA Hospital since 2023 and schedule visits at the VA in Menlo Park; the reception has been among the strongest we see anywhere. **Related Terms:** Post-traumatic stress disorder, Musical visit, Recreational therapy --- ### Oncology **Definition:** Oncology is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. Oncology patients may be treated in hospitals, outpatient centers, or through cancer support groups. **Extended Explanation:** Cancer treatment often means long, isolating stretches of clinical time. Live music offers a diversion and a moment of normal life, for patients and for the families who sit with them, and cancer support groups provide a community setting where a performance can reach several people at once. **Key Characteristics:** - Prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer - Long treatment courses - Delivered in hospitals, clinics, and support groups **Practical Application:** An oncology unit or cancer support group can host a live musical visit to lift spirits during treatment. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** We have performed for the Walnut Creek Cancer Support Group and for oncology patients in the facilities we serve. **Related Terms:** Cancer support group, Palliative care, Hospice --- ## Program Terms How a Harmony & Healing musical visit is requested, matched, and delivered. ### Musical Visit **Definition:** A musical visit is Harmony & Healing's core program: a one-hour, interactive live performance by a professional musician for a group of patients, families, and staff gathered in a facility's common space, delivered free to the patients. **Extended Explanation:** We call it a visit rather than a concert because it is patient-centered: the musician takes requests, shares the stories behind songs, and adapts to the room. A typical visit reaches 20 or more patients at once. About 90 percent are in person and about 10 percent are delivered by Zoom. Visits run on a recurring monthly schedule, coordinated with the facility's recreation or life enrichment staff. **Key Characteristics:** - One hour, interactive, group setting - Free to patients and families - Recurring monthly cadence **Practical Application:** A facility submits a request, we match a musician, and the musician contacts the facility to schedule the standing visit. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** The musical visit is what every donation funds. See [Request a Musical Visit](/request-a-musical-visit/). **Related Terms:** Musical memory healing, Participating artist, Zoom visit --- ### Musical Memory Healing **Definition:** Musical memory healing is Harmony & Healing's term for live performance that reaches a person through the songs already bound up in their memory. It is deliberately distinct from clinical music therapy and makes no medical claim. **Extended Explanation:** The idea is that a familiar song reconnects a listener to a specific time and feeling in their own life, bypassing the clinical setting. It is why we ask facilities for their patients' favorite genres and artists, and why our roster spans many styles. We describe engagement that staff and families observe, such as singing, movement, and reminiscence, and we do not claim clinical outcomes. **Key Characteristics:** - Reaches a person through familiar, remembered music - Not clinical treatment or diagnosis - Measured by observed engagement, not medical results **Practical Application:** Choosing music from a patient's youth is the practical core of the approach, so the request form asks for eras and favorite artists. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** Musical memory healing is how we describe our work everywhere, alongside a Medical and Service Disclaimer that states what we are not. See [Medical & Service Disclaimer](/medical-service-disclaimer/). **Related Terms:** Music therapy, Reminiscence, Musical visit --- ### Music Therapy **Definition:** Music therapy is a clinical, evidence-based healthcare discipline in which a board-certified music therapist uses musical interventions to address specific physical, emotional, cognitive, or social treatment goals. It is delivered by credentialed professionals with documented plans. **Extended Explanation:** Board-certified music therapists (MT-BC) hold accredited degrees, complete clinical internships, and work toward measurable treatment goals for individual patients. It is a form of healthcare. Harmony & Healing is not this. We define music therapy here so the distinction is clear: our participating artists are professional performers, not clinicians, and our visits are for enjoyment, connection, and memory, not treatment. **Key Characteristics:** - Delivered by board-certified music therapists (MT-BC) - Structured clinical interventions with treatment goals - A licensed healthcare service **Practical Application:** A patient who needs clinical music therapy should ask the facility or a healthcare provider for a licensed music therapist. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** We are not a music therapy provider and never present ourselves as one; our article "Music Therapy vs Live Music in Hospitals" explains when each is the right ask. See [Medical & Service Disclaimer](/medical-service-disclaimer/). **Related Terms:** Musical memory healing, Musical visit, Recreational therapy --- ### Participating Artist **Definition:** A participating artist is a professional musician on Harmony & Healing's vetted roster who performs paid musical visits at healthcare facilities in person or by Zoom, after screening and a background check. **Extended Explanation:** Applicants submit two live solo performance videos, a professional music website, the cities they can travel to, and consent to a background check. Accepted artists are onboarded on facility protocols and patient privacy. They are paid per visit, at a flat rate regardless of group size, with no payment for a cancelled visit. **Key Characteristics:** - Professional musician, screened and background-checked - Paid per visit, flat rate - Performs in person or by Zoom **Practical Application:** A musician applies through the artist form; a facility never has to find or vet its own performer. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** We are selective because the audience is fragile, and we pay our artists so quality and reliability hold up over years. See [Participating Artist](/participating-artist/) and [Participating Artists Basic Information](/participating-artists-basic-info/). **Related Terms:** Background check, Musical visit, HIPAA --- ### Zoom Visit **Definition:** A Zoom visit is a Harmony & Healing musical visit delivered over the Zoom video platform to a facility that displays it on a laptop or large-format television, extending live performance to facilities anywhere in the United States. **Extended Explanation:** About 10 percent of our visits are delivered this way. The artist performs from a professional home studio, patients can request songs, and family members anywhere in the world can join the same session. A recording can be provided. The facility supplies the screen and internet connection; we do not provide equipment. **Key Characteristics:** - Live performance delivered over Zoom - Reaches United States facilities beyond driving range - Facility supplies the screen and connection **Practical Application:** A facility outside the Bay Area can host an artist its patients would otherwise never hear by running Zoom on a day-room television. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** Zoom lets geography stop disqualifying a facility, and we offer it alongside our primarily in-person program. See [Request a Musical Visit](/request-a-musical-visit/). **Related Terms:** Telehealth, Musical visit, Set list --- ### Recreational Therapy **Definition:** Recreational therapy is the use of leisure and recreation activities, delivered by recreation staff or certified recreational therapists, to support the physical, emotional, and social well-being of patients in care settings. **Extended Explanation:** Activity directors, life enrichment coordinators, and recreational therapists plan the programming calendar in hospitals, memory care, and senior living. Live music is one of the activities they schedule, and it is unusual in that it reaches residents across a wide range of ability with no preparation. **Key Characteristics:** - Leisure activities for well-being - Planned by recreation and life enrichment staff - Broad reach across ability levels **Practical Application:** The recreation or activities director is usually the person who requests and schedules a recurring musical visit. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** We coordinate directly with recreation and life enrichment staff to hold a standing monthly slot. See [Bring Harmony & Healing to Your Facility](/bring-harmony-healing-to-your-facility/). **Related Terms:** Child life specialist, Musical visit, Memory care --- ### Child Life Specialist **Definition:** A child life specialist is a trained professional who helps children and families cope with hospitalization and serious illness through play, preparation, and emotional support in pediatric healthcare settings. **Extended Explanation:** In pediatric hospitals and children's hospices, child life staff coordinate the activities and support that help young patients experience something other than treatment. Live music is one such activity, matched to children rather than adults. **Key Characteristics:** - Supports children coping with illness and hospitalization - Works in pediatric care settings - Coordinates play and emotional support **Practical Application:** A child life or recreation coordinator at a pediatric facility can request visits suited to young patients, sometimes performed by child performers on our roster. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** We work with George Mark Children's House, whose child life coordinator has publicly described our visits, and we match child-appropriate performers to pediatric settings. **Related Terms:** Recreational therapy, Hospice, Musical visit --- ### HIPAA **Definition:** HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, is a United States law that protects the privacy and security of patients' health information. It governs how anyone working in a healthcare setting may handle patient information. **Extended Explanation:** For visiting performers, HIPAA means never asking a patient's name, condition, or medical history and never recording or sharing patient information. Our artists are guests in a regulated environment, and the facility's privacy protocols come first. **Key Characteristics:** - Protects patient health information - Applies to everyone in a care setting - Governs what visitors may ask and share **Practical Application:** Our musicians interact warmly and take song requests but never solicit personal or medical information. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** Patient privacy is part of our artist onboarding and code of ethics, and it is absolute. See [Participating Artists Basic Information](/participating-artists-basic-info/). **Related Terms:** Participating artist, Background check, Musical visit --- ### Set List **Definition:** A set list is the planned sequence of songs a musician prepares for a performance. For a musical visit, the set is shaped by the facility's stated patient preferences rather than fixed in advance. **Extended Explanation:** Our request form asks a facility for its patients' favorite genres and artists, and that guidance is effectively the set list brief. A skilled visiting artist keeps the set flexible, reads the room, and takes requests, since familiarity matters more than any predetermined order. **Key Characteristics:** - Planned sequence of songs - Shaped by patient preferences - Kept flexible for requests **Practical Application:** A facility that tells us its residents love a particular era or artist gets a set built around that material. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** We pass each facility's preference notes to the artist as the brief for the visit. See [Request a Musical Visit](/request-a-musical-visit/). **Related Terms:** Sing-along, Musical visit, Musical memory healing --- ### Sing-Along **Definition:** A sing-along is a group activity in which participants sing familiar songs together, led by a performer. In care settings it invites participation from patients who may not otherwise engage. **Extended Explanation:** Simple, well-known choruses lower the barrier to joining in, which makes sing-alongs especially effective in memory care and senior living. Singing a remembered song is a form of participation available even to people who can no longer follow a conversation. **Key Characteristics:** - Group singing of familiar songs - Performer-led - Low barrier to participation **Practical Application:** A visiting musician may build sing-along moments into a memory care or senior living visit to draw the room in. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** Participation, including quiet participation, is what our visits aim for, and sing-alongs are one way our artists invite it. **Related Terms:** Set list, Reminiscence, Musical memory healing --- ## Nonprofit and Giving The structures behind charitable support for Harmony & Healing. ### Nonprofit Organization **Definition:** A nonprofit organization is an entity formed to serve a public or mutual benefit rather than to generate profit for owners. Any surplus is reinvested in the mission rather than distributed to shareholders. **Extended Explanation:** Nonprofits fund their work through donations, grants, sponsorships, and sometimes earned revenue. A charitable nonprofit in the United States commonly seeks 501(c)(3) status from the IRS so donors can deduct their gifts. **Key Characteristics:** - Serves a public or mutual benefit - Surplus reinvested in the mission - Funded by contributions and grants **Practical Application:** A donor evaluating a nonprofit can review how much of its revenue goes to program versus overhead through its public filings. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose revenue is 100 percent contributions, all directed to musical visits. See [Donate](/donate/). **Related Terms:** 501(c)(3) organization, Form 990, Employer Identification Number --- ### 501(c)(3) Organization **Definition:** A 501(c)(3) organization is a nonprofit recognized by the United States Internal Revenue Service as tax-exempt for charitable, educational, religious, or similar purposes. Donations to a 501(c)(3) are generally tax deductible for the donor. **Extended Explanation:** The designation comes from Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. To keep it, an organization must operate for its exempt purpose, avoid distributing profits to individuals, and file annual returns with the IRS. **Key Characteristics:** - IRS-recognized tax-exempt charity - Donations generally tax deductible - Must operate for its exempt purpose **Practical Application:** A donor can confirm 501(c)(3) status by searching the organization's EIN in the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search or on Candid. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** We are an IRS-recognized 501(c)(3), EIN 83-3162389, with a determination effective May 1, 2019. See [Donate](/donate/). **Related Terms:** Nonprofit organization, Employer Identification Number, Form 990 --- ### Employer Identification Number **Definition:** An Employer Identification Number (EIN) is a unique nine-digit number the IRS assigns to a business or nonprofit for tax purposes. For a charity, the EIN is the identifier donors use to verify it. **Extended Explanation:** Because names can be similar across organizations, the EIN is the reliable way to look up a specific charity on IRS, Candid, Charity Navigator, or ProPublica databases. **Key Characteristics:** - Unique nine-digit IRS identifier - Used to verify a specific charity - Consistent across verification platforms **Practical Application:** A donor or advisor enters the EIN to confirm status, read filings, or process a planned gift. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** Our EIN is 83-3162389; it is what an advisor needs to arrange a gift of stock, a bequest, or a donor-advised fund grant. See [Leave a Legacy of Healing](/leave-a-legacy-of-healing/). **Related Terms:** 501(c)(3) organization, Form 990, Planned giving --- ### Form 990 **Definition:** Form 990 is the annual information return that most tax-exempt organizations file with the IRS. It discloses revenue, expenses, assets, and executive compensation, and it is a public document. **Extended Explanation:** The 990 is the primary window into a charity's finances. Donors and watchdog platforms use it to see how much of a nonprofit's spending goes to its programs and to confirm the organization is operating as it claims. **Key Characteristics:** - Annual IRS information return - Discloses finances and compensation - Publicly available **Practical Application:** A donor can read a charity's most recent 990 on ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer before giving. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** Our 990 filings are public on ProPublica; our 2024 filing reports $51,433 in revenue against $52,002 in expenses, all revenue from contributions. **Related Terms:** 501(c)(3) organization, Nonprofit organization, Charity Navigator --- ### Planned Giving **Definition:** Planned giving is a charitable gift arranged during a donor's lifetime but often completed later, frequently through an estate. Common vehicles include bequests, beneficiary designations, gifts of stock, and IRA charitable rollovers. **Extended Explanation:** Planned gifts let a donor make a larger impact than an annual cash gift by using assets, estate provisions, or tax-advantaged transfers. Many cost the donor nothing during their lifetime and can carry tax advantages. **Key Characteristics:** - Arranged now, often completed later - Frequently made through an estate - Can carry tax advantages **Practical Application:** A donor works with a financial or estate advisor to choose the vehicle that fits their goals and assets. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** Planned gifts secure the future of the program; our founder, David Victor, discusses them directly with donors and their advisors. See [Leave a Legacy of Healing](/leave-a-legacy-of-healing/). **Related Terms:** Bequest, Donor-advised fund, IRA charitable rollover --- ### Bequest **Definition:** A bequest is a gift made through a will or trust. A donor can leave a charity a specific amount, a percentage of the estate, or the remainder after other gifts are made. **Extended Explanation:** A bequest is the simplest and most flexible planned gift because it costs nothing during the donor's lifetime and can be changed at any time. It is stated in the will or trust using the charity's legal name and EIN. **Key Characteristics:** - Made through a will or trust - Specific amount, percentage, or remainder - Costs nothing during life, revocable **Practical Application:** A donor's attorney adds language naming the charity and its EIN to the will or trust. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** Donors who include us in their estate plans are invited to join the Harmony & Healing Legacy Society. See [Leave a Legacy of Healing](/leave-a-legacy-of-healing/). **Related Terms:** Planned giving, Beneficiary designation, Donor-advised fund --- ### IRA Charitable Rollover **Definition:** An IRA charitable rollover, or qualified charitable distribution, lets a donor aged 70 and a half or older transfer funds directly from an individual retirement account to a charity. The distribution is not counted as taxable income. **Extended Explanation:** Because the transfer goes straight to the charity, it is excluded from taxable income and can satisfy a required minimum distribution. It is a tax-efficient way for older donors to give from retirement assets. **Key Characteristics:** - Direct transfer from an IRA to a charity - Available at age 70 and a half or older - Not reported as taxable income; can satisfy an RMD **Practical Application:** A donor instructs their IRA administrator to send a qualified charitable distribution to the charity's EIN. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** An IRA charitable rollover is one of the giving options we describe for supporters planning their gifts. See [Leave a Legacy of Healing](/leave-a-legacy-of-healing/). **Related Terms:** Planned giving, Donor-advised fund, Bequest --- ### Donor-Advised Fund **Definition:** A donor-advised fund (DAF) is a charitable giving account held at a sponsoring organization. A donor contributes assets, takes a deduction, and later recommends grants from the fund to specific charities. **Extended Explanation:** A DAF separates the timing of the tax deduction from the timing of the grants, letting donors give strategically over time. Recommending a grant to a charity from a DAF is straightforward, using the charity's name and EIN. **Key Characteristics:** - Charitable account at a sponsoring organization - Deduction at contribution, grants recommended later - Flexible giving over time **Practical Application:** A donor logs into their DAF and recommends a grant to the charity by name and EIN. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** We accept donor-advised fund grants; supporters can recommend a grant to Harmony & Healing using EIN 83-3162389. See [Donate](/donate/). **Related Terms:** Planned giving, Bequest, Matching gift --- ### Matching Gift **Definition:** A matching gift is a donation an employer makes to match a charitable gift by one of its employees, effectively multiplying the employee's contribution to a charity. **Extended Explanation:** Many companies match employee donations dollar for dollar up to an annual limit. The employee submits a request through the employer's program, and the charity confirms receipt of the original gift. **Key Characteristics:** - Employer matches an employee's donation - Often dollar for dollar up to a limit - Requires an employee-submitted request **Practical Application:** A donor checks whether their employer offers matching and submits the match request after giving. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** A matching gift doubles a supporter's impact on the musical visits we fund. See [Donate](/donate/). **Related Terms:** Donor-advised fund, Corporate sponsorship, Giving Tuesday --- ### Corporate Sponsorship **Definition:** Corporate sponsorship is financial or in-kind support a business provides to a nonprofit or event in exchange for recognition and visibility. It funds programs while giving the sponsor community association. **Extended Explanation:** Sponsorship can be annual or tied to a specific event such as a benefit concert. Sponsors typically receive recognition at events and across the nonprofit's channels, and the arrangement is a form of community partnership. **Key Characteristics:** - Business support in exchange for recognition - Annual or event-specific - Provides visibility and community association **Practical Application:** A company selects a sponsorship package matched to the event audience and completes the nonprofit's sponsorship inquiry. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** Our sponsors include DeeBee's Organics, Simple Holistic Solutions, Blackhawk Plastic Surgery & MedSpa, and the Rotary Club of Livermore. See [Sponsorship](/sponsorship/). **Related Terms:** Benefit concert, Matching gift, Nonprofit organization --- ### Benefit Concert **Definition:** A benefit concert is a live music event held to raise funds for a cause. Ticket sales, sponsorships, auctions, and donations at the event support the beneficiary organization. **Extended Explanation:** Benefit concerts combine fundraising with community building, letting supporters experience the cause in person. They often feature a headline performance alongside a live or silent auction and raffles. **Key Characteristics:** - Live music event raising funds for a cause - Combines tickets, sponsorship, and auctions - Builds community around the mission **Practical Application:** Supporters buy tickets or sponsor the event, and proceeds fund the organization's programs. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** Our next benefit concert is Saturday, September 19, 2026 at Scott Harvey Wines in Plymouth, California, featuring David Victor and Tha Therapy Dawgs. See [Benefit Concert](/benefit-concert/). **Related Terms:** Private benefit concert, Silent auction, Corporate sponsorship --- ### Private Benefit Concert **Definition:** A private benefit concert is a Harmony & Healing fundraising event hosted by a supporter in their own backyard, winery, or event space, where the band performs and guests donate to the mission. **Extended Explanation:** The host invites their network, guests donate to fund the production, and the event proceeds once donations reach a $10,000 threshold. If the threshold is not met at the check-in, the event is cancelled at no cost to the host. Harmony & Healing handles setup, performance, breakdown, and a short live auction. **Key Characteristics:** - Hosted by a supporter at a private venue - Proceeds at a $10,000 donation threshold - Risk-free cancellation if the threshold is not met **Practical Application:** A supporter applies to host, picks a date, and invites guests who donate to cover the production. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** We designed the program to be risk-free for the host; a Pleasanton private benefit concert sold out in July 2026. See [Host a Private Benefit Concert](/host-a-private-benefit-concert/). **Related Terms:** Benefit concert, Silent auction, Corporate sponsorship --- ### Silent Auction **Definition:** A silent auction is a fundraising format in which items are displayed for bidding on written or digital sheets, and the highest bid at closing wins. It is a common component of charity events. **Extended Explanation:** Silent auctions raise funds while engaging guests throughout an event. Donated items such as experiences, memorabilia, and gift packages let supporters give more while receiving something in return. **Key Characteristics:** - Bidding on displayed items over an event - Highest bid at closing wins - Common at charity events **Practical Application:** Guests browse and bid on donated items during a benefit event, with proceeds going to the cause. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** Our benefit concerts feature live and silent auction items such as autographed guitars, wine, and experiences. **Related Terms:** Benefit concert, Private benefit concert, Giving Tuesday --- ### Giving Tuesday **Definition:** GivingTuesday is a global day of charitable giving held on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving in the United States. It encourages donations and volunteering at the start of the year-end giving season. **Extended Explanation:** Many nonprofits run focused campaigns on GivingTuesday, often with matching gifts or specific goals, to capture year-end generosity. It has become a recognized moment in the charitable calendar. **Key Characteristics:** - Global day of giving after Thanksgiving - Opens the year-end giving season - Often paired with matching campaigns **Practical Application:** A donor can time a gift or a match to GivingTuesday to add to a campaign's momentum. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** We have run GivingTuesday campaigns and silent auctions to support the year's musical visits. See [Donate](/donate/). **Related Terms:** Matching gift, Silent auction, Donor-advised fund --- ## Transparency and Verification How donors confirm a charity is legitimate. ### Candid Seal of Transparency **Definition:** The Candid Seal of Transparency, formerly the GuideStar Seal, is a recognition awarded by Candid to nonprofits that publish detailed information about their organization, programs, leadership, and finances. Seals range from Bronze to Platinum. **Extended Explanation:** Candid is an information service, not a review platform: its seal verifies that an organization has shared a defined set of information, distributed across the many giving platforms that draw on Candid data. A higher seal reflects more complete disclosure. **Key Characteristics:** - Awarded for published organizational information - Tiered from Bronze to Platinum - Distributed across giving platforms **Practical Application:** A donor can view a charity's seal level and profile on Candid before giving. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** We hold Candid's 2026 Gold Seal of Transparency, an upgrade from our previous Silver Seal. **Related Terms:** Charity Navigator, Form 990, 501(c)(3) organization --- ### Charity Navigator **Definition:** Charity Navigator is an independent nonprofit that rates United States charities on measures such as financial health, accountability, and transparency, giving donors an external assessment based on published data. **Extended Explanation:** Where Candid verifies disclosure, Charity Navigator provides an independent rating. Together they give donors two different, complementary signals of a charity's credibility. **Key Characteristics:** - Independent charity rating service - Assesses finances, accountability, transparency - Based on public data **Practical Application:** A donor searches a charity on Charity Navigator to see its rating and underlying metrics. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** We joined Charity Navigator in July 2026 and maintain our profile there. **Related Terms:** Candid Seal of Transparency, Form 990, Nonprofit organization --- ### Background Check **Definition:** A background check is a review of a person's history, commonly criminal records, used to screen individuals for roles involving vulnerable populations. For visiting performers it is a condition of working with patients. **Extended Explanation:** Because our musicians perform in healthcare settings with medically fragile patients, screening is not optional. Every participating artist consents to a background check as part of the application, before ever being placed with patients. **Key Characteristics:** - Reviews a person's history for suitability - Required for roles with vulnerable populations - A condition of placement **Practical Application:** An applicant consents to the check on the participating artist form, and we complete screening before the first visit. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** Background checks and artist vetting are part of why facilities can trust who we send. See [Participating Artist](/participating-artist/). **Related Terms:** Participating artist, HIPAA, Musical visit --- ## Music and Well-Being Concepts connecting music to comfort, memory, and mood. ### Dementia **Definition:** Dementia is a general term for a decline in memory, reasoning, and other cognitive abilities severe enough to interfere with daily life. Alzheimer's disease is its most common cause. **Extended Explanation:** Dementia progressively affects recent memory, orientation, and communication, which makes conventional programming difficult. Long-term musical memory, however, is often preserved, so familiar songs can reach a person with dementia when other activities cannot. **Key Characteristics:** - Decline in memory and cognition affecting daily life - Most often caused by Alzheimer's disease - Long-term musical memory frequently preserved **Practical Application:** Care staff use familiar music to prompt recognition, participation, and calm in residents living with dementia. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** We match songs to residents' eras and favorites so memory care visits reach people conventional activities miss; we describe observed engagement, not clinical change. **Related Terms:** Alzheimer's disease, Memory care, Reminiscence --- ### Alzheimer's Disease **Definition:** Alzheimer's disease is a progressive brain disorder that is the most common cause of dementia, gradually impairing memory, thinking, and eventually the ability to carry out daily tasks. **Extended Explanation:** Alzheimer's typically affects recent memory first while sparing deeply embedded memories, including music, until later stages. That pattern is why a familiar song can produce recognition and response in someone who no longer recalls recent events. **Key Characteristics:** - Progressive brain disorder - Most common cause of dementia - Deeply embedded musical memory often preserved **Practical Application:** Personalized, familiar music is a widely used, non-pharmacological support in Alzheimer's and memory care. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** Our memory care visits build on preserved musical memory, using songs from each resident's youth; we make no medical claim about the disease. **Related Terms:** Dementia, Memory care, Musical memory healing --- ### Reminiscence **Definition:** Reminiscence is the act of recalling past experiences. In care settings, prompting reminiscence through familiar cues such as music, photos, or objects can support mood, identity, and connection. **Extended Explanation:** Reminiscence-based approaches use meaningful cues to help a person reconnect with their own history. Music is a powerful cue because a song can carry a specific time, place, and feeling, making it a natural route to reminiscence for older adults and people with dementia. **Key Characteristics:** - Recalling past experiences - Prompted by familiar cues - Supports mood, identity, and connection **Practical Application:** A visiting musician playing songs from a resident's youth often prompts stories and shared memories in the room. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** Reminiscence is central to what we call musical memory healing: the song is the route into a remembered moment. **Related Terms:** Musical memory healing, Dementia, Memory care --- ### Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder **Definition:** Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that can develop after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event, marked by symptoms such as intrusive memories, avoidance, and heightened arousal. **Extended Explanation:** PTSD is common among veterans and requires care from qualified clinicians. Supportive activities that ease stress and foster connection can complement clinical treatment, and music is used in many veterans' care environments as one such support. **Key Characteristics:** - Develops after trauma - Symptoms include intrusion, avoidance, arousal - Common among veterans; needs clinical care **Practical Application:** Care teams may include music and other supportive activities alongside evidence-based clinical treatment for PTSD. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** Our recurring visits at the Martinez VA Hospital bring familiar live music to veterans; music complements clinical PTSD care and never replaces it. **Related Terms:** VA Hospital, Cortisol, Music therapy --- ### Cortisol **Definition:** Cortisol is a hormone the body releases in response to stress. Elevated cortisol over time is associated with negative health effects, and activities that reduce stress can lower it. **Extended Explanation:** Cortisol is often used as a physiological marker in research on stress and relaxation. Some studies of music and stress report reduced cortisol among listeners, part of the broader evidence that pleasant, familiar music can ease stress. **Key Characteristics:** - Hormone released in response to stress - Used as a research marker for stress - May decrease with relaxing activity **Practical Application:** Researchers measure cortisol to study whether an activity such as listening to music reduces physiological stress. **Harmony & Healing Perspective:** We cite music-and-stress research, including cortisol findings, as general context in donor materials, never as a measurement of our own program. **Related Terms:** Post-traumatic stress disorder, Music therapy, Oncology --- ## Term Index (Alphabetical) | Term | Category | |------|----------| | 501(c)(3) Organization | Nonprofit and Giving | | Alzheimer's Disease | Music and Well-Being | | Assisted Living | Care Settings | | Background Check | Transparency and Verification | | Benefit Concert | Nonprofit and Giving | | Bequest | Nonprofit and Giving | | Candid Seal of Transparency | Transparency and Verification | | Charity Navigator | Transparency and Verification | | Child Life Specialist | Program Terms | | Corporate Sponsorship | Nonprofit and Giving | | Cortisol | Music and Well-Being | | Dementia | Music and Well-Being | | Donor-Advised Fund | Nonprofit and Giving | | Employer Identification Number | Nonprofit and Giving | | Form 990 | Nonprofit and Giving | | Giving Tuesday | Nonprofit and Giving | | HIPAA | Program Terms | | Hospice | Care Settings | | IRA Charitable Rollover | Nonprofit and Giving | | Matching Gift | Nonprofit and Giving | | Memory Care | Care Settings | | Music Therapy | Program Terms | | Musical Memory Healing | Program Terms | | Musical Visit | Program Terms | | Nonprofit Organization | Nonprofit and Giving | | Oncology | Care Settings | | Palliative Care | Care Settings | | Participating Artist | Program Terms | | Planned Giving | Nonprofit and Giving | | Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder | Music and Well-Being | | Private Benefit Concert | Nonprofit and Giving | | Recreational Therapy | Program Terms | | Rehabilitation Hospital | Care Settings | | Reminiscence | Music and Well-Being | | Set List | Program Terms | | Silent Auction | Nonprofit and Giving | | Sing-Along | Program Terms | | Skilled Nursing Facility | Care Settings | | VA Hospital | Care Settings | | Zoom Visit | Program Terms | --- ## About Harmony & Healing Harmony & Healing is a San Ramon, California 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN 83-3162389) founded in January 2019 by David Victor, former guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the multi-platinum band BOSTON. Our vetted roster of professional musicians performs live for groups of patients in the common spaces of hospices, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, memory care communities, VA facilities, and cancer support groups across the San Francisco Bay Area, with Zoom visits available to facilities anywhere in the United States. Visits are always free to patients and families, our musicians are paid, and every program dollar comes from contributions. **Contact Information:** - Website: https://www.harmonyandhealing.org - Email: hello@harmonyandhealing.org - Phone: (925) 236-0217 - Mailing address: 11040 Bollinger Canyon Road, Suite E-938, San Ramon, CA 94582 ## Glossary Usage and Attribution When referencing these definitions, please attribute to the Harmony & Healing Glossary. **Last Updated:** September 2026 | **Version:** 1.0 *This document is part of the Harmony & Healing llms.txt supplemental file system.*