Best and Worst Charities for Your Donations Important tips to keep in mind in the season of giving

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If you're planning to make a charitable donation this holiday season, make sure you know more about the group than just the name it goes by.

Choosing charities by name alone is a mistake some donors make and their money ends up going to less-than-worthy groups. According to Bennett Weiner, chief operating officer of the charity watchdog BBB Wise Giving Alliance, these organizations may spend too much on administrative costs or are outright scammers. The problem is particularly important now about 20 percent of the time it is given during December, he says.


Weiner's group and the other two major charity watchdogs, Charity Navigator and Charity Watch.

They can help you feel confident. Charities differ in how much money they raise.

To become accredited by the BBB Wise Giving Alliance, the watchdog requires charities to spend at least 65 percent of their total expenses on their charitable missions and no more than 35 percent of their contributions to fundraising.

CharityWatch, which uses a letter-grade rating system, gave National Veterans Services Fund to F and the National Military Family Association to A.

"You can get more bang for your buck by giving an A-rated charity," says Watchdog's president and founder, Daniel Borochoff.
The watchdogs agree to give high and low ratings.

We looked for a consensus among all three watchdogs. However, in some cases we just evaluated that by just two. Wise Giving Alliance, we did not include it in our list of high-rated charities, although it may have been included in our list of low-rated charities.

Keep in mind that this is a partial list of high and low rated charities in only some categories. You can find more by going to the watchdogs' websites directly. CharityWatch is a full list of CharityWatch charity and charity accountants.

If the watchdogs have not been evaluated, you can research it yourself, Weiner suggests.

Check the group's website for information about its mission, a list of directors' boards, and its latest financial reports. If the site does not have those details, "it's sending a message that the organization is not very transparent," Weiner says.

IRS form 990 or 990EZ, which has a total revenue of more than $ 50,000, are not they a house of worship. The form provides a lot of information about how much it matters and how it spends its money. You can find 990s at the charity information site GuideStar (free registration required).

Some of the Highest and Lowest Rated Charities
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CAUSE	HIGH-RATED	LOW-RATED
Animal Welfare	American Humane Washington, D.C.	Gentle Giants Draft Horse Rescue Mount Airy, Md.
	PetSmart Charities Phoenix, Ariz.	Noah’s Lost Ark Berlin Center, Ohio
	Wildlife Conservation Society Bronx, N.Y.	Redwings Horse Rescue & Sanctuary Lockwood, Calf.
		SPCA International New York, N.Y.
Blind and Hearing Impaired	Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind Smithtown, NY	WonderWork New York, N.Y.
	Helen Keller International New York, N.Y.	American Council of the Blind Alexandria, Va.
	National Federation of the Blind Baltimore, Md.	Heritage for the Blind Brooklyn, N.Y.
	Prevent Blindness Chicago, Ill.	Macular Degeneration Association Sarasota, Fla.
	Seva Foundation Berkeley, Calif.
Cancer	Breast Cancer Research Foundation New York, N.Y.	Cancer Survivors’ Fund Missouri City, Texas
	Cancer Research Institute New York, N.Y.	Childhood Leukemia Foundation Brick, N.J.
	Ovarian Cancer Research Fund Alliance (OCRA) New York, N.Y.	Children’s Leukemia Research Association Garden City, N.Y.
	Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Manhattan Beach, Calif.	United Breast Cancer Foundation Huntington, N.Y.
	Stand Up to Cancer - Entertainment Industry Foundation Los Angeles, Calf.	Walker Cancer Research Institute Aberdeen, Md.
Child Assistance, Protection, and Sponsorship	Marine Toys for Tots Foundation Triangle, Va.	Abandoned Children's Fund Santa Rosa, Calf.
	Prevent Child Abuse America Chicago, Ill.	Committee for Missing Children Lawrenceville, Ga.
	Ronald McDonald House Charities Oak Brook, Ill.	Find the Children Santa Monica, Calf.
	Unbound Kansas City, Kan.
Environment	Earthworks Washington, D.C.
	National Park Foundation Washington, D.C.
	Sierra Club Foundation Oakland, Calif.
	Water.org Kansas City, Mo.
	World Resources Institute Washington, D.C.
Health	American Kidney Fund Rockville, Md.	Defeat Diabetes Foundation Madeira Beach, Fla.
	Hearing Health Foundation New York, N.Y.	Heart Center of America Knoxville, Tenn.
	Lupus Research Alliance New York, N.Y.	National Caregiving Foundation Dunkirk, Md.
	Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research New York, N.Y.	United Cerebral Palsy Washington, D.C.
	National Hemophilia Foundation New York, N.Y.
International Relief and Development	Catholic Relief Services Baltimore, Md.	Aid for Starving Children Windsor, Calif.
	International Rescue Committee New York, N.Y.	Salesian Missions New Rochelle, N.Y.
	Partners in Health Boston, Mass.
	Rotary Foundation of Rotary International Evanston, Ill.
	United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) Atlanta, Ga.
Mental Health and Disabilities	The Arc of the United States Washington, D.C.	Autism Spectrum Disorder Foundation Schererville, Ind.
	Brain & Behavior Research Foundation / NARSAD New York, N.Y.	Autism Speaks New York, N.Y.
	National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Arlington, Va.
Police and Firefighter Support		American Federation of Police & Concerned Citizens Titusville, Fla.
		Disabled Police and Sheriffs Foundation Ste. Genevieve, Mo.
		Firefighters Charitable Foundation Farmingdale, N.Y.
		National Association of Chiefs of Police Titusville, Fla.
		United States Deputy Sheriff's Association Wichita, Kan.
Veterans	Gary Sinise Foundation Los Angeles, Calif.	Disabled Veterans National Foundatio  Lanham, Md.
	Homes for Our Troops Taunton, Mass.	Help Heal Veterans Winchester, Calif.
	National Military Family Association Alexandria, Va.	Military Order of the Purple Heart Service Foundation Annandale, Va.
	Operation Homefront San Antonio, Texas	Paralyzed Veterans of America Washington, D.C.
	Wounded Warriors Family Support Omaha, Neb.	Veterans Support Foundation Silver Spring, Md.
Youth Development	Boys & Girls Clubs of America Atlanta, Ga.	California Police Youth Charities Sacramento, Calif.
	Girls Inc. New York, N.Y.	Law Enforcement Education Program Troy, Mich.
	National 4-H Council Chevy Chase, Md.
	Scholarship America Minneapolis, Minn.

High-Rated and Low-Rated Charities