How to Plan Your Charitable Giving in 2018 With Charity Navigator

It's finally 2018, which means that you're probably making plans for how you want to change the world this year! We at Charity Navigator understand that there's a whole world out there to save, but figuring out how to make the most impact can be difficult.


We're breaking down some of our top tips for approaching your philanthropic investments for 2018!

1. Determine which causes are most important to you. By making a list of causes you care about, you can then differentiate the needs of each cause and charity-set, allowing you to contribute directly to the specific needs of a cause.

2. Develop a list of charities engaging with the causes you care about. Charity Navigator recommends supporting highly-rated organizations that receive either three- or four-star ratings on the Charity Navigator website.

3. Charity Navigator's website allows you to narrow the list of organizations you've developed to a few that are financially healthy, accountable, and transparent.

4. Check in with your list of organizations to learn about their results. You can do so by calling the organization or visiting its website. Use Charity Navigator's list of questions to ask to guide your conversation.

5. Map out a budget and plan for your giving this year:

• Consider setting aside some money for disaster giving. In 2017, we saw a huge increase in donations go towards organizations working to help those affected by Hurricanes Harvey, Maria, Irma, the wildfires in California, and the earthquakes in Mexico.
  
• Take advantage of the convenience of monthly giving. Check out one of our recent blog posts on why monthly giving rocks!
  
• Think about giving anonymously to avoid being inundated with more appeals to donate throughout the year.