Hellobee Boards

This time of year is usually 'fundraising season' for charities. I'd go to facebook pages of local charities and see if there are any events coming up. Recently I went to a benifit luncheon for a local group that runs a relief nursery and diaper bank. I donated a one time check and received a receipt the next week. It's a legit charity if you can write it off on your taxes. I think the more local you go the more oversight you have- you can go to events and have the chance to be hands on. Not to say large worldwide charities are not amazing- I'm passionate about helping children in my rural county. You just need to reflect on your priorities and choose based on that. I think fundraisers are a good way to see what their philosophy is and get a lot of great information.

ETA I think picking one or two charities and giving them a monthly amount helps with their yearly budgeting- if it's $10 or $100 a month they know they can count on it. I think it's called sustainable donor ship or something along those lines. Someone who has worked for a charity would know better though.

What an awesome question.

I have been thinking about this a lot and am planning on the following general strategy, while still working out the details. Of course, you should do what you are comfortable with, and what fits your budget.

National: large, powerful advocacy and legal organizations (eg: ACLU, Southern Poverty Law Center. You mentioned climate, and I would put it in this category)

Local: the direct-service organizations that are going to see an increase in needy clients at their doorstep. This will vary by city and interest. Personally, I am looking at proven organizations in my community that support women's health, LGBT, immigrants, etc...

Local: news organizations. Local papers were generally hurting lately (not related to the election) but their reporters are now openly being targeted. I plan to support my local reporters via public radio and newspaper because they are the people/orgs who will fight to keep me informed.

Broadly speaking, as a grant maker, unrestricted operating funds are invaluable and always greatly needed. This allows the organization to spend the money where it is most needed at any given time.
As for your idea about "donate to a different organization for a specific issue each month?" Recurring/annual gifts are also worth their weight in gold, because they provide steady, reliable income. Some organizations will prefer recurring gifts in small amounts monthly, some prefer larger annual gifts -- mostly, just knowing that it is coming at a regular interval (whatever that is) is very helpful. If your gift will be a one time thing, and you need to spread out your giving throughout the year and across multiple causes, then feel free to switch every month. But if you are wanting and/or able to make a longer impact, I personally would not recommend that approach.

When I have had a couple of local organizations talk to us about donations (during the federal donation drive), they all stated that a small recurring donation was very helpful. This included as small as $5 a month.

I'm part of a giving circle (part of the 100 Who Care network) where we get 100+ local women together to donate $100 to a select charity each quarter -- so each charity gets a $10,000 check for a 1 hour presentation. There are chapters all over the country. It's $100, four times a year. http://www.100whocarealliance.org/

I also donate to organizations that my friends/family are part of -- my mom is on the board of a local non-profit that helps adults with developmental disabilities; we donate/ride in Cycle for Survival in honor of our friend who passed away; I'm on the Board of a couple local education/women's organizations so I donate money and time to those organizations. It's totally not organized in any fashion but I just follow my heart and interests.

The most impact you can make with your donation is made by giving internationally. Some tips: http://www.vox.com/2014/12/22/7434741/holiday-giving-charity-donation

Against Malaria, Deworm the World, and Give Directly are all very highly recommended for their lives-saved-per-dollar value.

My husband and I identified causes that were important to us and charities that work on them (mostly local, one international). We set up monthly reoccurring donations for them all. We also usually donate to large international organizations 2-3x a year for international or national disasters.

I work in fundraising for a non-profit. Depending on your capacity, I would say a monthly gift throughout the year would be very beneficial. We have over 600 mid-level donors at my organization and most donors in this bracket give a monthly reoccuring gift. Also, from a fundraising perspective it's ideal to give your gift as unrestricted, which means the organization will put the money where it is most needed. All non-profits are in need of unrestricted funding, it really helps, but is often the most difficult to raise since most major donors prefer to donate toward a specific project/cause that they feel strongly about.