I’ve given to many charities in my life.  It makes me feel like I’m giving back and that it’s, well, just the right thing to do.  However, lately I’ve been bombarded with requests for giving.  I want to do the right thing, but in this day and age, it’s difficult to know which groups to trust and which ones are a bit shady. 

Some organizations, while well meaning, may take a hefty percentage of each donation for administration, leaving the recipients with a mere pittance.  To avoid feeling like a charity case yourself (pun intended), here are some helpful tips from Charity Navigator:

Be Proactive In Your Giving
Smart givers generally don't give reactively in a knee-jerk reaction. They don't respond to the first organization that appeals for help. They take the time to identify which causes are most important to them and their families. They are specific about the change they want to affect. For example, they don't just support generic cancer charities, but instead have targeted outcome goals for their giving, such as providing mammograms to at-risk women in their community.

Eliminate The Middleman
Informed donors should recognize that for-profit fundraisers, those primarily used in charitable telemarketing campaigns, keep 25 to 95 cents of every dollar they collect.  Donors never give out their personal information - like credit card accounts, social security numbers - over the phone. If you like what they hear in the pitch, hang up, investigate the charity on-line and send in your contribution directly to the charity, thereby cutting out the middleman and ensuring 100% of their donation reaches the charity.

Concentrate Your Giving
When it comes to financial investments, diversification is the key to reducing risk. The opposite is true for philanthropic investments. If you've really taken the time to identify a well-run charity that is engaged in a cause that you are passionate about, you should then feel confident in giving it a donation. Spreading your money among multiple organizations not only results in your mail box filling up with more appeals, it also diminishes the possibility of any of those groups bringing about substantive change as each charity is wasting a large percentage of your gift on fundraising and overhead expenses.

For additional information on giving to charities, see Charity Navigator’s website at www.charitynavigator.com.