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Finding and Giving to Charities Online

By Elizabeth Wasserman

Freddi Zeiler was a seventh grader in Topanga Canyon, Calif. when she decided to donate her allowance to charity. And how did she find a suitable beneficiary? By using the family computer.

Zeiler looked up charity web sites, read non-profits' annual reports, and emailed charities for information about how they allocate their donation dollars. "I wanted to find the perfect charity to fund with my money," says Zeiler, now 22, and author of A Kids Guide to Giving (Innovative Kids).

Back then, Zeiler chose Save the Children, an organization that helps disadvantaged children in the United States and around the world. Even though she was just a child herself, she "adopted" a child in Haiti and her allowance paid for school, food, clothing, shelter, and health care for Myrlene, who was 4. "I felt that my money was really making a difference," Zeiler says.

Using the Internet is not only a great way to research and donate to charities and non-profit organizations, it also helps kids develop a sense of social responsibility. Here are four ways the web helps connect you to a good cause:

No. 1: Find online guides to giving  Getting information about how a charity spends its donations used to be difficult -- annual reports were hard to decipher and government filings had to be requested in writing. The Internet has simplified this process.

The Internal Revenue Service has a charity look-up feature so you can verify which non-profits qualify to receive tax-deductible donations. GuideStar provides data on more than 1.5 million non-profits. And Charity Navigator (charitynavigator4) provides online information on more than 5,000 charities and offers independent evaluations of their fiscal health. The site takes into consideration an organization's efficiency and capacity to develop a rating system about how much the charity spends on administrative costs.

No. 2: Donate online  There are several benefits to donating online versus mailing a check. For example, you can contribute to numerous charities through a single web site, which means at tax time your donations will be documented on one receipt. For charities, receiving online donations allows them to cut out the paper chase -- from sending solicitation letters to processing paper checks and printing donor receipts.

Network for Good is an organization that allows donors to contribute to thousands of registered charities, says Katya Andersen, vice president of marketing. "We store your giving records for you. You can decide how much you want to give and how much information you want to give to the charity."

Just Give is another non-profit that lets people search a database of 1,000 charities by categories such as animals, homeless, peace, education, and many more. America's Charities offers a similar service and can also help employers set up an online donation program for their staff members.

No. 3: Set up online tithing  The average American donates about 3.1 percent of their income to charities, according to Just Give. That's far short of the 10 percent that religious organizations traditionally expect members to contribute. Also known as a "tithe" -- from Old English meaning "tenth" -- these contributions are now migrating online instead of being collected in church envelopes. Check with your place of worship about whether they allow online tithing through their web site, your online bank account, or payment services such as PayPal. Plus, by making an online offering, you'll get the tax receipt needed to write off donations versus placing cash in the collection basket, which can't be verified.

No. 4: Teach kids the value of giving back  Many parents want to teach their children charitable values and web sites can help. Network for Good has a section where children can find out about causes and share this information via email with friends and relatives. Just Give features inspirational stories about kids and their chosen causes, such as a 10-year-old girl who raises money to buy bulletproof vests for police dogs.

Zeiler advises that it's important to help youngsters find a cause they care about, like protecting wildlife or children. "Kids aren't lazy or apathetic," Zeiler says. "They just want to do something that means something to them."