Almost lost to charity (4)
I believe the answer is:
alms
'charity' is the definition.
(alms is a kind of charity)
'almost lost to' is the wordplay.
'lost' is a deletion indicator.
'almost' with 'to' taken away is 'ALMS'.
(Other definitions for alms that I've seen before include "Charitable relief" , "help" , "Relief for the poor" , "Charitable giving" , "Money given to poor people" .)