The Wonkblog Guide to Giving (a great resource for effective donations)
So you've finally given all your Hanukkah and Christmas gifts to friends and family. But have you done your part for charity yet? Don't worry, if not; Americans as a whole tend to procrastinate on this front. Last year, 17.69 percent of the year's total charitable gifts were given in December, as well as 22.4 percent of all online gifts, according to the Blackbaud Index of Charitable Giving. So if you are still looking for causes to support, here are a few tips for how to spend your charitable dollar well.
Consult charity recommenders
Life is busy, and figuring out which of the thousands of nonprofits to which you could donate is most deserving of your support is a pretty herculean undertaking. So instead of trying to do all the necessary research yourself, check in with one of the several methodologically rigorous charity recommenders that have popped up in recent years. The best-known of these is GiveWell, which I rely on for my own giving decisions, but Giving What We Can, The Life You Can Save and AidGrade are great resources as well.
GiveWell recommends three top charities, Giving What We Can recommends four (two of which are also recommended by GiveWell), and The Life You Can Save recommends 13 (including the five groups GiveWell and Giving What We Can recommend). Here are the five groups recommended by GiveWell and/or Giving What We Can, and what they do:
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Much more:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/12/26/the-wonkblog-guide-to-holiday-giving-2/