[Kyle]

I think honestly though we are just dismantling the semantics of the word too much into something so literal it's impossible to define if you include personal satisfaction of doing the right thing.

I know this quote is off Wikipedia but it sums up altruism as far as I have used it in the past and now I think most people see it.

"Altruism in biological organisms can be defined as an individual performing an action which is at a cost to themselves (e.g., pleasure and quality of life, time, probability of survival or reproduction), but benefits, either directly or indirectly, another third-party individual, without the expectation of reciprocity or compensation for that action."

So as far as I'm concerned just giving your well earned money, that you saved for ages because you wanted to take a nice holiday with, to someone who has fallen on hard times recently to have a holiday themselves qualifies as altruism.