Choosing a Charity

My mom pointed out a beautiful pamphlet from a major charitable organization the other week. It worked along the same lines as kiva.org- you could choose from a number of products (for lack of a better word) to donate- a goat, a well, chickens etc. We are naturally drawn to this type of fundraising (I did my own fundraising based on this technique), but how do we really know if it is the right charity to support?

GiveWell helps take the guesswork out of it. They have a list of their top charities. They explain how looking at how much of your donation goes to overhead doesn't tell you anything about the quality of the charity. And they point out the incredible strength of the individual donor! Individual donors give way more than any other donor out there- including the Gates Foundation.

When you do your end of the year donations check out their chart and then give yourself a pat on the back for being an important part of the solution, not just a drop in a bucket.