Give it up

There are the fundamentals: disaster relief, human rights, disease, hunger, poverty, religion. You can move on to the issue-based, such as protection of the rainforest or elimination of land mines. The competition for that 5 percent of your income is tremendous, so the needy have adapted their appeal to fit your needs by accepting old cars, and now you can even shop online and a percentage goes to charity.

On occasion, one nonprofit will trump the others because of its emotional appeal. How can one think of babies born with AIDS through no fault of their own and not feel the tug? After all, half a million children worldwide have already died from the pandemic.

But once you’ve made the decision to give, that’s just the start of your work. Now you need to closely examine the charity, its leaders and its finances to find out where the money is going. We did in "Not in SAF keeping" on page 18, and what we found may cause some to put their money elsewhere.