The Human Fund.
I donate to my local NPR station. I also donate and volunteer with a local non profit that provides healthy appetizing meals to the housebound.
An organization I really like is Direct Relief International. They do great work locally as well as globally.
Planned parenthood. They were my only source of healthcare for years.
State lupus foundation. They help with super basic things like groceries that some have to forego to afford their meds. I prefer smaller local charities whenever possible.
Local shelter that has given me multiple best friends. (See avatar)
I donate a lot to the small local charity I founded as well the national organizations I work with. I also like to donate to our local public radio station and other small local charities. I like to see the money actually benefitting my community and the folks meant to be served by the charity. Sometimes overhead takes a huge chunk of the funds and that’s not what I really want to donate towards.
I may be donating to Planned Parenthood and other organizations this year as well. Running a nonprofit is very challenging these days.
When my daughter attended the local public schools, I participated in all of the fundraising events that the PTO, local education foundation, scouts, and school sports foundation ran. Once she graduated, I stopped. I live in a wealthy school district and pay very high real estate taxes to support the schools, so I don’t feel like they really need my money.
However, I do continue to support my local library. It is a fantastic library run on a shoestring budget.(very little of my taxes go to the library compared to the schools).
Just got a solicitation from Wounded Worriers. Any opinions? On Charity Watch site, it got a decent rating.
There are so many good ones. I use Charity Navigator and donate to those which have high ratings. They break down what percentage of monies goes where and tell you what the CEO of the charity earns. It’s very easy to use. Some of my usual charities are Save the Children, Global Fund for Women, and Kiva, which provides micro loans to people in 3rd world countries to start businesses. The good thing about Kiva is that you get your money repaid and can relend it indefinitely.
This year I’ve donated to a local charity called KEEP, which provides schooling for girls in India. I’ve also donated to Oxfam. Oxfam is really cool, because you can choose a goat, or a mosquito net, or a lot of other things, and Oxfam will send you a little card to give to your family. My sis in law does this every year for my kids. They get a kick out of knowing that a goat was given to a family in their name, or a bicycle.
I’m often a worrier. 
But I think you mean Wounded Warriors. 
Honestly, I’ve heard a lot of negatives about the organization and its history including directly from wounded vets. I’d do more research before giving them a penny or look elsewhere. They have a reputation for being scammy. There are other charities that help vets if that is where you wish to donate money.
I give locally to the local food bank (and volunteer there as well), the local safe house for battered women and their children, local PBS TV and radio stations, the local Children’s Hospital (work there, too).
Occasional directed to the alma maters of myself, DH, +/- our children.
More broadly, particularly more recently, I wanted to contribute to causes I feel are threatened so I did a transparency search and found the following:
Center for Reproductive Right,
Natural Resource Defense Council,
National Immigration Law Center,
American Cilvil Liberties Union,
and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence
I give a fair amount to my church, but I also give money to:
Habitat for Humanity, because they do great work. I worked on one of their builds once, too.
My local library (another one of those libraries like @kiddie’s that does good things on a tiny budget)
My local Humane Society (because…kitties)
Local food banks (including Gleaners), but I do that year-round since they need help year-round
Planned Parenthood.
I’m sure I’m forgetting some. I do NOT ever give money when solicited on the phone.
@Iglooo There is an organization that gives trained service dogs to disabled vets free of charge. The trainer is a high sought after gun dog trainer and he really knows his dog psychology. PM me if you would like to know more.
I donate to our church, the CAC like the one in Houston http://www.cachouston.org/ (children’s assessment center where they interview child victims of sexual abuse or who witnessed a violent crime so they have a safe place to tell their story), Preemptive Love Coalition https://preemptivelove.org/ (a Christian based charity that helps children in Iraq obtain heart surgeries and other types of surgeries by bringing in surgeons) several cancer charities with an emphasis on childhood cancers (almost 80-90% of all cancer charities do not focus on children)and sometimes my alma maters.
http://houston.ytac.org/spotlight-libby-jones/
We donate – repeatedly this year – to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a free speech and digital privacy group. I’m also on the board of our community’s crisis center, and we send time and money their way too.
Neither is a directly educational, more along the lines of prerequisites in my mind.
World Vision - a very low % of funds go to administrative operating costs.
Our kids’ schools
Give Kids The World - when a terminally ill child selects their Make A Wish trip to go to Disney World, this is the organization that makes it happen. They are an amazing charity. They coordinate everything with Disney, including medical needs. They provide accomodations, meals, airfare, etc. to the families. Their facility has doctors and nurses on staff. And on any given day, literally hundreds of volunteers volunteer at their facility near Disney World in order to keep everything running smoothly. They, too, have a very very low % of overhead. Very honest people.
I use Charity Navigator to vet the organizations I might donate to. I usually choose a number of humanitarian organizations (Save the Children, Americares, Charity Water), Planned Parenthood, PBS/NPR, a local food bank, and some of the colleges my family has attended (some we don’t like how they spend their money)
I typically donate to the Greater Chicago Food Depository and its neighborhood hunger programs and Planned Parenthood.
Consider donating to The Door, A Center of Alternatives, a comprehensive services organization for homeless and foster youth in New York City. They help a lot of unaccompanied minors who are seeking asylum in the U.S. They provide every kind of support the kids need: a medical clinic, hot meals, academic tutoring, counseling, art programs, etc. My sister is the director of the legal clinic, which represents the kids who have civil legal problems like housing, benefits, family, and immigration crises. This organization does so much good for kids who have nowhere else to turn.
Is there a Crisis Nursery in your city? Respite care for the kids, and parenting resources for the families so they experience fewer crises. Ours is great, and the services provided per dollar donated are amazing.
@doschicos Yes, I meant Warriers. These days, if that’s the worst I do, I feel lucky. I am not particularly looking for helping vets. We have a set of organization we contribute to and usually stick to them. The solicitation just came and got me looking.
I donate to the Transplant House of Cleveland, for a very personal reason. My bil had a heart transplant at Cleveland Clinic and this was his favorite charity. It helps those on the transplant list as they and their families wait. Kinda like a Ronald McDonald House but for those waiting for a transplant.
Habitat for Humanity, local food pantry, local ARL shelter and I personally manage a giving tree for local foster children in the surrounding towns each Christmas.