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Environmental Topic Du Jour: Giving to Charities

I have been shocked at the extent of skepticism among people I know on the subject of giving to charities. Shocked, I tell you, shocked. When the subject has come up, I hear the same questions over and over again: "How can you tell the money really goes to what they say it does? How do you know it's not some scam?"

I understand that giving money to a non-profit is not like buying a pair of shoes, which gives you immediate and tangible results. I further understand that you do hear about outright scams, like the case of telemarketers post-9/11 trying to drum up funds for nonexistent charities, and we all heard about the Red Cross dropping the ball post-Katrina. Nonetheless, most non-profits are staffed by committed, hard-working people who try very hard to spend your money wisely for the purpose stated. You don't have to take my word for it -- sites like charitynavigator will help you evaluate the financial stats of many charities, and charity watch has a handy list of some top rated ones. I generally only give money to organizations which spend at least 80% of their income on their programs.

Solicitations from charities often contain a pie chart of their finances, which I always look at. If you have a cause you want to support -- say, the environment -- figure out what aspect of it you want to invest in -- mounting legal challengers to polluters, educating kids, promoting wind farms -- and find a charity that is well-rated that does just that. Read up on their web site, and if you like what you see, send them a check already!

If you still don't feel right about it, if even a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize isn't good enough to pass muster with you, there are a few alternatives for pitching in. If you want to help the environment while still maintaining a death grip on your own cash drop some money on flourescent lights around the house, invest in solar panels, buy a hybrid car. Buy a water-saving toilet top at sinkpositive.

For those of you interested in microfinance, lend some cash to entrepreneurs in developing nation. Kicking down as little as $25 to some carpenter in Kirkuk or $50 to a grocer in Ecuador could make a huge difference to the recipients. And there's a very good chance, given the high rates of repayment among these types of loans, that you'll get every penny back.

Convinced? Show some love to some of my personal favorite charities:

What can you do right now to help the environment? Drop a line to save some of nature's BioGems. 

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