Thank you for your input.

>In the case of a large charity, the amount used for overhead can vary from location to location. For example, a friend of mine used to be the IT guy at the United Way of Salt Lake and told me that he's never seen a more poorly managed organization. Seeing as most of the money donated to the United Way stays in the community, I won't give to them, but will donate directly to organizations that the United Way supports.
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>On the other hand, the wife of a friend in Canada runs a woman's shelter. She wouldn't be able to keep it open if it weren't for help from the United Way.
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>My advice, do what you feel is right.
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>>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}).?