The verse in Megillat Esther states regarding the days of Purim: “To make them days of feasting and merriment and sending portions to one another and gifts to the poor.” Mordechai and Esther thus commanded all future generations to give gifts to the poor on Purim day.
The Gemara (Megillah 7a) expounds based on the word “gifts” to the poor that one must distribute one gift to at least two paupers on Purim day. Very much like the Mitzvah of Mishloach Manot, Matanot La’Evyonim must be distributed on Purim day and if one did so on Purim night, one has not fulfilled the Mitzvah.
What Should One Give?
The gifts to the poor must consist of either food (such as meat, fish, or rice) or money with which the needy person can purchase food. If one donates items that are neither food nor money, one has not fulfilled the Mitzvah.
Although the author of Halachot Ketanot (Vol. 2, Ch. 163) rules that one may fulfill this Mitzvah using other items, such as clothing and housewares, the consensus of Poskim disagree and explain that the point of this Mitzvah is in order to provide the needy with the opportunity to hold a respectable Purim feast and one therefore will not fulfill the Mitzvah with anything other than food, beverages, or money. (Chazon Ovadia- Purim, p. 266)
Money to be Spent on Something Specific
Hagaon Harav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt”l (quoted in Halichot Shlomo- Purim, Ch. 19) rules that the Mitzvah is to give the pauper the money so he can spend it on anything he wishes and not to stipulate that he use it to purchase something specific.
Distribution on Purim Day
The money should be given to the needy on Purim day and not before. It is likewise permissible to donate this money to organizations or rabbis before Purim when they will distribute the funds on Purim day, as is prevalent today. If one is in a city where there are no Jewish paupers on Purim day, one must set aside the money on Purim and designate it for the poor to be distributed at the earliest opportunity after Purim (Shulchan Aruch Ch. 694).
The Appropriate Amount to Donate
It is most appropriate to donate Matanot La’Evyonim as generously as possible, in order to gladden the downtrodden. According to the letter of the law though, there is no minimum amount required for this donation and one can donate even a few cents and fulfill one’s obligation. Nevertheless, it is praiseworthy to direct more money towards Matanot La’Evyonim than to Mishloach Manot and one’s Purim feast combined. In any event, it is proper not to donate less than an amount of money the pauper can use to purchase a meal on Purim.
