How To Give For The Holidays: What Charities To Donate To As Christmas Approaches

A lot of folks who are in the financial position to donate to charity choose to do so during the holiday season. With Christmas about 11 days away Wednesday, it's not too late to find a worthy cause to help.

The last thing anyone wants to do is give to a charity like the Human Fund, the foundation "Seinfeld" character George Costanza made up on the show. Fortunately there are too many actual charities to count. For a quick overview, the organization Charity Watch has provided a list of well-rated charities that grades some of the biggest charities for just about any cause. These top-rated charities typically "spend 75 [percent] or more of their budgets on programs, spend $25 or less to raise $100 in public support, do not hold excessive assets in reserve, have met Charity Watch's governance benchmarks, and receive 'open-book' status for disclosure of basic financial information and documents," according to the group's website.

The group Charity Navigator, which also keeps tabs on how charities use their money, has put out a holiday guide filled with tips about how and where to direct donations. Some of its highest-rated charities include the National Alliance to End Homelessness, Give Kids The World and Place of Hope.

The Salvation Army, which is a religious institution and not a charity, also collects donations during the holiday season, most notably through their bell-ringers with red buckets that take to the streets throughout the country. Locations across the country also often hold coat drives to make sure people are properly prepared for the cold winter months.

Oprah Magazine previously listed some of its top choices for holiday giving, including Nothing but Nets — which helps to prevent families from contracting the deadly disease malaria — and the Arbor Day Foundation, which helps save forests.

Non-profits historically collect a large portion of their donations during the last three months of the year. About 34 percent of all charitable giving happens during that time period, with 18 percent in December alone, an expert told USA Today in 2014. With the month about halfway done, it's not too late to give this year. However, time is running out.