Donate Carefully

Before you make a charitable contribution of any kind, make sure that the recipient organization of your donation is reputable.

The Federal Trade Commission has laid out some guidelines for your generous intentions. Check out the tips here: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/tmarkg/charity.htm.

Guidestar is another valuable resource. GuideStar provides financial information about charities. Some of the basic data is available for free, such as 990 forms.