I am making an effort this year to be more charitable. But I am generally a cynic, so I have to vet the charities I am considering donating to.
Here is a short list of who I contributed to (so far). Feel free to comment with thoughts or suggestions.
* KUT Radio, Austin’s local NPR affiliate
* Goodwill Austin
* BP MS 150 Bike Tour for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society
* ALS TDI
* Not On Our Watch: Darfur
* V Foundation for Cancer Research
* The Conservation Fund (hat tip: The Five Cent Nickel)
There are some thoughts that donations should not be spread out this way, but I prefer donating to multiple causes with good goals and hopefully quality operations. Sometimes it can be hard to tell. Two lookup methods are The Charity Navigator and The American Institute of Philanthropy.