>To me (probably as to most people) giving to charities is not only about doing something good but it brings a personal satisfaction (not sure if this is the right term though, but you understand). When I was growing up (raised by my mother of very modest means - she was a factory worker) I remember every week someone (some hasidic Jew) would stop by our apartment and my mother would give them some money. And she would always say that no matter how little you have, somebody has less and we should help. So it kind of got ingrained in me that one must give. So my wife and I give two or three grand every year to various charities. One of the charities, homeless shelter, is not shy reminding us (at least once a week) of the money they need. Recently I looked them up on the Charity Navigator rating and see that the principal of the charity is making about $160K and his wife about $60K. And together they are in about 15% of total expense. Then I looked up another homeless shelter in our area and their principals make about the same (a little less) but because they raise much more money the % of expense is much lower (about 1.5%). So I am wondering, should I drop the more "expensive" charity in favor of the one which puts more money into the programs? Do you think it is reasonable that a principal of a charity makes a lot of money (at least by Obama's standards - I had to get this one in {g}).?

http://www.charitynavigator.org/?gclid=CLbm-6jw95UCFQZinAod0Cxw4w

Just for information sake: Do you know there are folks who actually go bankrupt and still give their tithe? There are many who consider charity donations and a religious tithe as 'untouchable' no matter what.

There are a few charities that I will overlook the expenses and ratios because I have either personally benefitted by them or someone I know has and I am confident in what they do:

The Red Cross
Direct Relief International
The Salvation Army
The Rotary Club of Portage, WI

and a few more. I'm not absolutely positive they all manage their donations like I'd prefer or they don't have someone on staff benefitting more than they should, but I do know that with each of those I listed that real people get real benefits and those benefits sometimes are the only help they get. I've personally witnessed it so those I will donate to every year regardless of any other donations.