Ditto to everyone's comments about large charities!
I recommend (if I may do so humbly) that everyone give to LOCAL CHARITIES, like your local Boys and Girls Club, Lions Clubs, crisis pregnancy centers, and of course the local Humane Society. The Boys and Girls Club here in Aberdeen does a great job of finding mentors and food for neglected children. The local Lions Club (which I used to be a member of before I got ultra busy) paid thousands of dollars yearly out of their own pockets for needy persons to receive eye exams and glasses. We have a local crisis pregnancy center in town that does a marvelous job of counseling young women (and men!) in dire straits. And need I mention that your local church, temple or synagogue needs money as much if not more than the big charities do. We in America have no idea how much good and how much influence can be accomplished simply by working through the local organizations in our area. Maybe we can't influence the President of the US, but we can darn sure make our own neighborhood a better place to live, and if we all started to do so, pretty soon the entire US would be a different place than it is now.
Didn't mean to get on my soapbox, but this has been a burning issue with me for some time.
Thanks for letting me "air it out" here on PetTalk. This is by far the nicest and most courteous and thoughtful group of folks I've had the pleasure of talking to in a very long time.