I don't have a favourite charity and if you are anything like me then you probably don't have one either. If this is the case then it's a good idea to budget your donations for the year by deciding how much you are going to donate in advance. When you have done this you can then decide whom you are going to help. There are international charities like the Oxfam, Red Cross, Cafod, etc. that are known worldwide and are often seen to arrive at disaster scenes before anyone else. After a major disaster charities are set up to help rebuild communities and peoples lives. Recent examples have been events such as the Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina. If you search the Internet you will find lots of details about those. By supporting charities donations for these one off disasters it means that you can get help to the people who have lost everything to allow them to start their lives again.

Perhaps you think that it is better to help with charity donations closer to home. Sometimes the best and most satisfying things to do is be involved with fund raising at a local level. When I had a young family we used to help raise money for the local school. This meant giving time as well as money or goods and through it we made new friends. We lived in a country village and the children enjoyed celebrating harvest festival by giving fresh vegetables and fruit. When the festival was over the food would go to a local charity for the homeless.