[legion]

In general, I don't do it. I will toss money in the Salvation Army bucket, but they aren't going to harass me for the rest of the year because they don't know who I am. I also know people inside the Salvation Army and am familiar with that organization.

One of my biggest problems with this is that I have no chance to vet the charity at a cash register and it is often not clear where your money will really go. It is not uncommon for charities with seemingly noncontroversial aims to in turn make donations to charities with clear political ideologies. I can cite several examples of this. Susan G. Komen makes large donations to Planned Parenthood. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), is not affiliated with local Humane Societies and is really a front group for PETA. It is also not uncommon for charities to pay their executives and staffs lavish salaries (and benefits, and travel) and spend very little on their actual cause. It's too easy for a seemingly innocuous request to actually fund something that I vehemently oppose.