Donating, With Care

"My heart's in the right place, but I have no time to do the research," Yesner says.

One way for individual donors and giving groups to check out charities is through two annual catalogues that began publishing four years ago. The catalogues evaluate non-profit groups, and they bring attention to smaller charities many people otherwise would not know about.

"The large organizations feel very distant to many people, that's what I hear," said Barbara Harman, head of her family foundation, who this year published the fourth annual Washington area "Catalogue for Philanthropy," which features 70 to 80 charities. She got the idea from the success of a similar catalogue started 10 years ago by the Ellis L. Phillips Foundation.

Harman launched her catalogue after learning how hard it was for donors such as herself to find information about local charities. People can give through the catalogue, which passes the donation along to the designated organization, or they can give directly to the charity.

The Washington catalogue raised $466,000 for local charities in its first year, $830,000 in its second and $1.25 million last year.

A particularly popular catalogue feature is the "wish list." Each entry shows what an organization would do with contributions of $100, $500 or $1,000 -- amounts within the reach of many donors. For example, the Potomac Riverkeeper, which works to clean up the Potomac, would use $3,500 to pay water-testing costs for a year. The City Kids Wilderness Project would use $100 to buy a sleeping bag for the weekend camping trips it provides for inner-city children aged 11 to 18.

Alvina Long, who co-founded Mercy Health Clinic six years ago to provide health care to uninsured adults, said she expects the Germantown clinic's inclusion in Harman's catalogue to boost local support by acting as "seal of approval."

In many instances, donors also become volunteers, another benefit of giving locally.

"The real issue is that people want to feel engaged. They are looking for their passion," Harman said. "It's not like taxes. You don't have to do it."

Mary Gormley, who retired from the CIA, has volunteered at the clinic for several years organizing patient charts. "It's sort of a hometown thing," she says. "I live in Montgomery County, and the people the clinic helps are in Montgomery County, and it gives me satisfaction to help people in this community."

Another regional catalogue is published by the Community Foundation for the National Capital Region. The foundation and its local affiliates -- the Montgomery County Community Foundation, Prince George's Community Foundation, the Alexandria Community Trust -- are part of a network of more than 650 such organizations around the country. Each is a tax-exempt public charity that accepts donations from individuals, families and corporations.

The foundation's fourth annual "Spirit of Giving" guide profiles 15 smaller charities in the region. One is Higher Achievement, an organization with an operating budget of a little more than $2 million that tutors and mentors promising underprivileged youth.

About 75 percent of Higher Achievement's students are eventually placed in the area's most academically rigorous high schools, including Sidwell Friends, Georgetown Day and St. Albans. About 95 percent go to college.

"I'm personally connected, and I see it works, and I can see how the money is going to be used," said Leland Boyle, a business loan officer at a local bank who gives $150 a year directly to Higher Achievement. He's also been a tutor there. "They see the check's from you. It's not just about giving, it's about being in contact with an organization."

Clearinghouse Charities

United Way spokeswoman Sheila Consaul said the charity knows that individuals are increasingly bypassing large charities: The number of people giving to United Way fell to 13.6 million in 2004, the latest year for which data are available, down from 17.6 million in 2000, the first year data were collected.

Despite the drop, United Way's revenue from individuals has grown because the average size of each gift has increased, reaching $243 in 2004, up from $187 in 2000.

Even so, United Way executives are troubled. To lure people back, Consaul said, the charity is trying to better communicate what it thinks are the benefits of giving through United Way: It's easier to give to multiple charities at once, overhead costs have fallen to less than 13 cents for every dollar donated, donors can specify any local charity, and United Way officials do the homework of making sure a charity is legitimate.

And plenty of individuals do give through the giant charity. That's the case for Maria Fiore of Silver Spring, who volunteers at Higher Achievement and says she's impressed with how effective the mentoring is. Fiore has $500 automatically taken out of her paycheck every year and given to the United Way, earmarking it for Higher Achievement.

"For me, it was really important that once I started to volunteer with them that my money went to them, too," she said. "It's just easier through the United Way. I don't have to think about it."