Volunteering Your Time

As we approach Christmas and New Year's, you may want to help the needy. If your own budget is tight, you could do so by volunteering. Your local church, synagogue or Y may run soup kitchens. If you need help in finding volunteering opportunities in your area, go to: http://www.volunteermatch.org/.

Donating Your Money

If you wish to write out a check, make certain the charity is a legitimate one and that most of your money will indeed be going to feed the hungry and not to pay for executive salaries and fundraising.

Check first with one of the charity watchdog groups. America's largest charity evaluator is the Charity Navigator (http://www.charitynavigator.org/) which studies the financial health of 5,400+ charities. It also has interesting lists, such as "Ten Highly Rated Charities with Low Paid CEOs," "Ten Charities Routinely in the Red" and "Ten Charities Drowning in Administrative Costs." You'll also find useful information on the site about donating your car or other non-cash items to a charity and facts about charity gift cards.

Two other reliable watchdog groups are the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance (www.bbb.org/us/wise-giving; click on "For Consumers") and the American Institute of Philanthropy (http://www.charitywatch.org/). The latter rates over 500 charities and has fascinating (and continually changing) articles, such as "The Most Outrageous Charity in America," updates on what's happening in Congress along with advice on reducing unwanted mail.

Among the charities recommended by these watchdog groups are:

Feeding America: http://www.feedingamerica.org/

Freedom From Hunger: http://www.freedomfromhunger.org/

The Hunger Project: http://www.thp.org/

Be sure to keep the letter from the organization spelling out the amount you donate as well as your cancelled check so you can deduct the amount on your tax return. 

- Nancy Dunnan