xtcian

I love http://www.donorschoose.org.
I supports public schools in the US. You can see exactly where your money goes, choose the school, project, etc. and even get fun thank you notes back. Check it out!
Neva

And Wow, love that Girl Effect video.

check out www.globalgiving.org -- founded by a carolina alum, they provide an online marketplace to connect donors with great development projects around the world. you can search by country, theme, etc and then pick a specific project to give to-- globalgiving does all the vetting to ensure credibility and also provides tax deduction for US donors and gets funds to the ground quickly (and projects post updates so you get feedback on how funds were used).

also, as a nonprofiteer, i'd like to put in a plug for moving towards effectiveness/outcomes and moving away from overhead as we talk about what works and who should get donations. say there were 2 organizations, and one could feed 100 babies with $10 (yet their "overhead" was 25%). org #2 could feed 50 babies with $10, but their overhead was 10%. wouldnt you rather feed more babies? if paying staff, investing in technology and infrastructure, etc results in better outcomes, then to me the overhead seems worth it...would you choose a doctor or a lawyer based on how little they pay their staff or how crappy their computers are?

We have supported a succession of little girls in poor areas of Colombia through the nonsectarian Plan USA. They do a great job of helping families improve their living circumstances. (Only one of the girls we've sponsored lived in a home with plumbing.) The children write wonderful notes to us several times a year and they enjoy getting our letters and photos.

Catholic Relief Services is considered one of the best in getting aid immediately to disaster areas. We've donated through them to aid the south Asian tsunami victims, Katrina, and the Haiti quake aftermath. Also for Haiti, we've given to Partners in Health (awesome, incredible group headed by Dr. Paul Farmer) and to The Haitian Project, which runs a school in Haiti, Louverture-Cleary School.

Locally we support an urban school for at-risk middle-school boys run by a Christian Brother but not itself church-affiliated, San Miguel School. Also the Providence Animal Rescue League, a private nonprofit that is very effective in finding good homes for pets, all of which are spay/neutered before you can take them home. Two of our past dogs came from there.

Great post. Thanks.

Mercy Corps is a great organization. I discovered it some years ago after you mentioned it and have been a monthly supporter since then. They do some great work. I'd like to also mention the Lustgarten Foundation www.lustgarten.org a group that funds pancreatic cancer research. Some large corporation funds 100% of their admin costs so the contributions go directly to the work of the organization. Also for any of you who have had a loved one spend their final days in the care of a hospice you know the importance of these facilities. They can always use a contribution.

And thanks Ian for the Girl Effect mention. That one is going on my list too.

Heifer Project. Absolutely awesome. They've gotten some good press in the past year but I'm proud to say that my mom has been involved with them since the early 80s if not before. They are just so great. I guess now they are known as Heifer International. At our wedding instead of giving out some little gift that no one wanted anyway we bought a bunch of animals and listed them on the program but I'm not sure anyone noticed. And it was like 50 animals. Oh well.

I tend to stay local with my charity donations and work. Right now, I give to the Massachusetts Bar Foundation and the Forest Park Zoo. I'm involved with both organizations personally, so I'm giving my money and my time.

I avoid national or international organizations, though the ones you are supporting seem quite worthy.

Mercy Corps and Girl Effect are awesome. I also have to second Heifer International, and I'm a big fan of the microlending movement, so I'm a Kiva donor. Doctors without Borders also goes on my list.

I support a lot of other charities for personal/family reasons (Alzheimer's Association, National Kidney Foundation, etc.) I also look for local organizations to support, and will especially donate my time and money to organizations like New York Cares that recruit volunteers for service work.

I also do as much thrift store shopping as possible, and not just because of the deals. Having worked for a Goodwill organization for a long time, I believe strongly in their funding and programming models: giving people with significant barriers to employment the opportunity to work, and using profits from a mission-driven enterprise to fund programming to help even more people achieve self-sufficiency. That's some goodness right there.

www.girlsontherun.org

www.equest.org

Both near and dear to my heart as I'm currently coaching one and worked at Equest for years.

i like doctors without borders and local drives of almost any kind, especially education.

We give to a lot of different things but the biggies are Catholic Relief Services (through our church) and UNC's Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. And of course we give back to Carolina, directing the funds to the Journalism School.

I'm very involved on the local level as a member of the Junior League. Bump the stereotype - we do a LOT of good in our community and I'm proud of my involvement, both financially AND physically with volunteer hours (even had a stint as an assistant coach for Girls on the Run, SLS).

And finally, we support our church preschool (and will continue to do so as Graham starts there this fall), Next up will be Connor's elementary school - I hope to give a lot of volunteer hours there.

I loved reading about all of the organizations above.

We sponsor a Kenyan child through World Vision (yes, I read Kristof's article and Monday's blog).

Locally, we support Circle de Luz, based in Davidson, NC. Started by an old high school pal, it is a mentoring program and scholarship fund for Latina youth. Girls are selected for the foundation in 7th grade and take part in a number of programs every year until they graduate. At that time, they are awarded a college scholarship. http://circledeluz.org/

We also contribute to our church and its outreach programs.

I also try to stay local, so a fair amount of my charity dollars goes to VCU's Massey Cancer Center. We support all efforts at our children's schools - the largest one being The William Byrd House (helps families get back on their feet). For many years I was a mentor through my job at an inner city kindergarten program. And I also spent ten years in my local Junior League with a focus was on women and children.

The people at Partners In Health are zealots, in a good way. They were the first to treat patients with drug-resistant TB, instead of writing them off as untreatable and letting them die. Then they convinced the WHO to change their policies -- and then taught the rest of the world how to take care of difficult TB cases. They were one of the first to treat people with HIV in resource-poor settings like Haiti.

Read "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder, which charts the life of the charismatic co-founder of PIH. Paul Farmer was my attending when I was a third year medical student and I've been inspired by him ever since.

The girl effect reminds me of something Greg Mortenson (Three Cups of Tea) wrote. Educate a man and you educate an individual. Educate a woman and you educate a community.

See link above - Do you think someone was inspired by your own question? What a coincidence!

That is odd. But nice!