From mid-November until the end of December, 90% of my mail falls into one of three categories: catalogs, Christmas cards, and charitable solicitations.

Many charities get much of their annual budget in the last two months of the year.  It’s not surprising that they focus their campaigns on the holiday season.  People are generally in a more generous and giving mood.  And donations made prior to December 31 can be deducted on your 2007 income tax to the extent allowed by law.

I strongly recommend against dealing with these requests for money in a piecemeal fashion.  When I check my mail each day, the first thing I do is toss any requests that I know I won’t consider.  I get requests for money from organizations  whose principles I oppose.  Those go right into the mixed paper recycling bin, as do the duplicate and triplicate requests I get as the season goes on.  Any that I think I might consider go onto a pile that I keep to the side (in a file folder, drawer, any place out of the way).

I generally pick one evening, usually between Christmas and New Year’s, to look through all the requests I have received.  Before that day, I look over the charitable donations I have already made for the year and decide how much more I want to give. (I strive to donate a specific percentage of my annual income to charity.  At the end of the year, I can check my pay stub to determine how much more I need to give to hit my target.) 

Once I know how much money I have to donate, I become the Elf Foundation, issuing grants (ok, actually, checks or online donations) to worthy causes.  I log on to the Internet and check the financial records of the groups I am considering for donations.  What percentage of their funds raised actually goes to the cause?  What percentage goes to administration?  What percentage to fundraising?  (I once considered a donation to a well-known charity, only to change my mind when I discovered how little of each donation actually went to the cause.)

There are lots of ways you can distribute your largesse.  You can make small donations to many charities or a larger donation to a single charity.  You can focus your donations in a single area, such as education, the environment, poverty, animals, religion, veterans, whatever matters to you.  You can also choose a few areas and donate to one charity in each group.

If you are reading this blog right now, you are better off than a substantial portion of the world’s population.  You have computer access and you can read.  You’ve probably eaten today.  Please do what you can.