[Avodah] Torah Institutions = Tzeddakah?

[Elazar M. Teitz]

R. Binyomin Hirsch wrote:
<I don't know if this was discussed in the past, however I was wondering if anyone knows the source for calling Torah Institution donations tzeddakah?>

R. Zev Sero responded:
<No, it's not tzedakah in the strict sense.  But today the word "tzedaka" in common usage means any worthy cause, any mitzvah, whether it's actual tzedaka or talmud torah or other mitzvos.   In part this comes from our minhag to give maaser, which can be used not just for mitzvat tzedaka but also for any other mitzvah or good cause.  So all of those get lumped under the term tzedaka, which they are in a broader and more vague sense.>

To which RBH inferred:
<Frankly, as no one disputed your interpretation of tzedakah, it would seem that there would be universal agreement to this definition among the group here. In other words most people (AFAIK most lump all charity together) mistakenly feel that they are obligating their Mitzvah of Tzedakah with donations to all charitable causes, thinking that all the benefits linked with the giving of Tzedakah are theirs as a result of their charity donations.>

     I was unaware that sh'tika k'hoda'ah applies to non-responses on Avodah, but since the above shows that it is considered as such, permit me to enter a dissent.  (In the interests of full disclosure, I should point out that I am a nogei'a badavar as an employee of a Torah institution.)

     I assume that all would agree that just as, e.g., giving money to an individual for hachnasas kallah represents fulfillment of tz'dakah, so too giving it through an organization dedicated to that cause is equally tz'dakah.  Obviously, giving money to an individual to pay for Torah education is tz'dakah, since it is part of "dei machsoro;" why, then, should it be any less an act of tz'dakah if it is given through an organization dedicated to the meeting of that need? 

EMT