What are the top charities?

When determining what charity you want to donate to you may want to consider its size. If you are a small business you may choose to donate locally or to a small charitable donation in which you can see a difference that you money makes. There are much larger charities that will be able to offer you a report on where your funds actually went to and how it helped your cause.

A list of the largest charitable donations are as follows:
1. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
2. The Ford Foundation
3. The Paul Getty Trust
4. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
5. W.K. Kellogg Foundation
6. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
7. Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
8. The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
9. Lilly Endowment
10. John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

You are able to compare these and many other foundations at The Foundation Center. These top rated charitable donations are based off of their assets.

So have you figured out what kind of charitable donation you are interested in? There are so many you can probably find whatever you are looking for, but if there is something you really believe in you can start your own. That may sound like a huge hurdle just to get your money to the right place but simple directions can be found on EHow . The most important thing to remember is that you are making a difference in what you believe in.

How do I donate?

Now that you know what kind of charity to donate to you want to know how to go about doing it properly. For an individual this is as easy as contacting the non-profit and writing a check but for a larger company this may be more involved.

The first step is to research the non-profit as much as possible. This information should be presented to your partners or other shareholders in a corporation that have the ability to influence your company's decision.

Giving a detailed report may make or break your ability to influence others. The report should contain the goals and performances of the non-profit and how your company's goals are similar. This will show how a collaboration could be beneficial to both your company and the charity. You must be prepared that other deciding members may not feel the same way as you. If this is the case you may want to include what programs the non-profit has available or a back-up non-profit. Your report should be able to assure the other members that it is a stable and reputable company.

The next step is consulting the accounting department of your company to see what target range you are able to work with for your donations. This should be laid out in the report with the options of what can be done in each range. It may be a good idea to bring in the non-profit representative to answer any questions that may come up.

After the decision has been made by the members of your company it is a good idea to address whether employees will have an option to donate through the company. The option to donate a portion of a check may make the employees feel as though they are contributing towards their own personal charitable goal also. The company may decide to match donations along with their own. This is a great way to connect to the employees and bring morale up. An example of a company that helps their employees donate is Microsoft; the Microsoft Employee Program is a great example of how to encourage your employees to donate.

This information will help you set up a charitable donations proposal for your company. This also will keep you on track to meet your goals and set new ones.