DonorsChoose.org

This is charitable giving that will especially appeal to parents who are tired of school fundraisers that involve selling chocolate bars and wrapping paper. On this site classroom teachers submit specific requests; DonorsChoose screens all proposals before posting. You decide which project you would like to help fund and then make a payment online, and the site buys the materials and ships them directly to the school. You can choose to remain anonymous, or not. Another way to help out your favorite charity is to sign them up on Goodsearch, a search engine powered by Yahoo! that splits its ad revenue 50/50 with non-profits. When you use GoodSearch to search the Web, a penny goes to the group of your choice. (The trick, of course, is to spread the word—you'd need, say, 1,000 surfers using GoodSearch twice a day to raise any real cash.) If you're getting married and can do without the pasta bowls and flatware, consider setting up a registry at the I Do Foundation, where your guests can give money to your favorite charity in lieu of a gift to you. Curious about how a particular non-profit spends its money? Search Charity Navigator for an independent financial evaluation.