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11 GREAT CHARITIES THAT PUT SOME JINGLE WHERE IT’S NEEDED

by Amy Zavatto

e dash here w and run there, striving to find the perfect gifts for those we love, those we like, and those we simply must thank when the end of the year rolls around. But all the

Champagne-filled holiday hoopla can make you start to feel a little… decadent, doesn’t it? Or, at the very least, it’s impossible not to take note of all that you receive. It kind of makes you want to give back a bit, doesn’t it? But charities have a no-return policy.

Once you give, it’s gone. So how do you know if your money is going for the right mitzvah? Sandra Miniutti,

C.F.O. of Charity Navigator, the ultimate source of online intel for sussing out a nonprofit’s validity, has some savvy tips.

First, do a self-assessment. “Figure out your philanthropic passions and try to be specific,” she says. “Don’t just pick breast cancer. Do you want to fund research? Women who can’t afford patient care? Do you want to work on lobbying issues? Pin-point what matters to you and look for good charities doing that work. Look under the hood—most organizations have websites so you can confirm, not just assume, what they do.”

Second, be tenacious. “Stick with your chosen charity over time. If you made an effort to vet them, be their partner year after year so they can make a difference in the world.”

Along those lines, Miniutti advises that you concentrate your giving. “Unlike the stock market where you want to diversify, we recommend the opposite approach. If you have $100 to give, split it between two charities rather than 10. That’s more helpful for the charity.” But it’s also more helpful to you: “When giving lots of small gifts, you are likely to have your personal information sold, and wind up with your mailbox full of appeal letters from charities you’ve never heard of before.”

Best of all, if you follow these tips and become what Miniutti calls a pro-active giver, it’s easier to say no when you get that telemarketing call during dinner or when someone stops you on a street corner when you’re in a rush. “It’s fine to give a few dollars here and there,” she offers, “but if you want to invest in changing the world, it’s better to be a proactive giver.”

Here, New You offers up 11 time-tested favorites that even Tiny Tim would love.

Feeding America

Focus: Hunger relief Fine-tuning: This national hunger-fighting group feeds more than 46 million Americans via its 200 food banks and 60,000 food pantries that offer up muchneeded services to more than 46 million people annually. Find Them: feedingamerica.org

Stand Up To Cancer

Focus: Fighting cancer Fine-tuning: Powered and co-founded by a passionate super-group of women, including Katie Couric and Sherry Lansing, SU2C hones in on raising funds, and lots of them, for ground-breaking research in the fight against cancer. Find Them: standup2cancer.org

Conservation International

Focus: Saving the environment Fine-tuning: From the Amazon to Indonesia, CI’s boots-on-the-ground mission is to protect the Earth’s natural resources (and, thus, us humans who live here) via funding scientists and field workers to myriad spots in over 30 countries to work with, teach, and empower local communities to sustain more than 1 billion acres of land and sea. Find Them: conservation.org Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA)

Focus: Military⁄Veterans Fine-tuning: Focusing on the issues facing post-9⁄11 American military veterans, IAVA provides a network of support via programs like their Rapid Response Referral Program, which connects vets to case managers who help with everything from legal support to doctors to pursuing the GI Bill. Other innovative IAVA programs focus on the needs of vets and their families to transition back to home life. Find Them: iava.org St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

Focus: Children’s Health Fine-tuning: The venerable St. Jude fights the good fight against cancer affecting kids via their Memphis-based hospital as well as through funded research to find innovative treatments for ailing children (information that they readily share with other medical institutions). Find Them: stjude.org

PHOTOGRAPHS BY GETTY IMAGES

(RED)

Focus: Fighting AIDS Fine-tuning: Founded by U2 rocker-witha-heart Bono and Bobby Shriver, (RED) uses private-sector donations and purchases from (RED)-centric products to raise money for medicine and the distribution of it to people with AIDS in Africa, where a whopping two-thirds of the 35 million affected by the auto-immune disease live. Find Them: red.org The Humane Society of the United States

Focus: Animals Fine-tuning: Since 1954, the HSUS has made it a mission to fight animal cruelty via its direct care centers all across the country, public campaigns to raise awareness, as well as working with the government to tweak legislation that kicks animal cruelty to the curb. Find Them: humanesociety.org

Keep a Child Alive

Focus: Children’s Health Fine-tuning: Co-founded by singer Alicia Keys, KCA has built a network of events both small (want to host a yoga seminar in your living room to raise money? Go for it!) and large (Key’s star-studded Black Ball every November) to fundraise for children affected by HIV⁄AIDS. Find Them: keepachildalive.org

Scholarship America

Focus: Education Fine-tuning: Off-setting the ever-increasing cost, and growing inaccessibility, of a college education for students nationwide via millions of dollars in scholarship support money that helped more than 125,000 students last year alone. Find Them: scholarshipamerica.org

National Park Trust

Focus: Environment⁄Outdoors Fine-tuning: Through funding and advocacy aimed at kids on up, this group is dedicated to protecting and securing the future of American park land, wildlife refuges, historic landmarks, and other public lands and waterways. They also work to acquire lands that can be become park of our country’s amazing and much-needed National Park system. Find Them: parktrust.org

Reading Is Fundamental

Focus: Literacy Fine-tuning: Started by Margaret McNamara in 1966 to inspire a life-long love of reading (and literacy), RIF’s book distribution program is renowned nationwide and has provided more than 400 million books to low-income and poor kids across the country, who might not have a book to call their own otherwise. Find Them: rif.org