One of the things that I have always loved about Ramadan is that it is a time of great generosity. I think there is something about being hungry and thirsty (especially if you usually have the privilege of a too-full stomach), that makes it a little easier to give to others.
This giving takes place amongst all sorts of people, in all sorts of ways.
For example, my most memorable Ramadan iftar was eight years ago, when I was living in Egypt. A friend and I had decided to tour “Old Cairo”, a winding labyrinth of medieval homes woven together. We were so intrigued by the historic buildings with their spectacular wood lattice work, that we lost track of the time.

At some point, we realized that it was nearly sunset and that we were in the midst of a relatively deserted part of town, far from a taxi or minibus that could take us somewhere we could get a bite to eat. And as these things inevitably go, it was just as we realized we had a good hour’s walk ahead of us that we realized just how hungry and thirsty we actually were.
With much grumbling, we started the long trek back. As we were walking, we passed a construction crew of five men, sitting cross legged on the pavement, getting ready to break their fast with a simple meal of brown bread, white cheese, and dates. When the men saw us, they insisted we join them for iftar — and would not take no for an answer.

So we did. I am still grateful to that group of men for that meal, and think about them every Ramadan and smile.
Having been the recipient of other people’s kindness, I am conscious that during this time of year, many people make the decision to give to charity. And as television news brings us images of devastation from Pakistan and other crises around the world, I know people of all faiths and backgrounds are thinking about how they too can help.

But as we all know, sometimes giving is not always so straightforward. How do you identify the right cause for you? After all, there are a plethora of important issues out there. How do you know which organizations are most active for the causes you believe in? How do you know how your money is being spent, and what the impact is? And how can you distinguish between an efficient charity organization and one that spends more money on overhead than on doing good on the ground?

When the Arab Times asked me to write this column, I decided that this year, I would devote my column inches to a practical “how to” guide to picking a charity organization. Having worked in the economic development space for a number of years, both with big international agencies and smaller, grassroots, non-governmental organizations, and seen firsthand how donation money gets utilized, I would argue that donating your money requires some thought and planning. After all, it is an investment you are making in your community, and like all investments, demands some basic due diligence in order to truly pay off.

Here are four simple things to consider while structuring your giving plan:
1. Identify a short-list of causes you are passionate about
Are you the sort of person that puts a few dinars into the box for UNICEF at the supermarket, contributes to a fundraising drive for Haiti relief at work, and then buys a ticket to a classical piano concert to support the arts?
If you are, you are clearly a generous person with a sense of general goodwill. That said, something to consider is actually narrowing your focus (but not your contribution).
I really believe that giving is most sustainable over the long-term when it is for a cause you truly believe in. Whether it is children’s education, health care provision, environmental advocacy, arts, or human rights issues — there are no shortage of important issues out there. The question is: what do you really care about? What motivates and moves you, makes you interested to find out more, inspires you to be an ongoing advocate?
If you can identify a short-list of causes you are passionate about, it gives you the opportunity to contribute steadily to those causes over the course of your lifetime. You can track you contributions over time, and more importantly, your impact, and feel that you made a sustained difference in a particular space. In many ways, a more targeted approach to giving can be more satisfying than one-off contributions to organizations when the opportunity arises.

2. Think about what “close to home” means to you
“Charity starts at home.” It may be the oldest cliché in the book, but things usually become clichés because they have some truth.
Giving time or money to a cause that is right under our noses can make an enormous difference. Our families, our friends, the people we employ, the people that work in our offices — the security guard, the office boy, our neighbors, our community — whether physically close or far away — all offer us opportunities to make a difference.
Of course, how you interpret “close to home” is always going to be an intensely personal choice, and that’s a good thing. I think the point is to have a personal connection. I have friends that run marathons to raise money for cancer research because they have lost a loved one, and others who target support for the elderly in memory of the favorite grandparent that raised them. And these things are also close to home, in a very real way.

3. Look at financial reports, because not all organizations are equally efficient
A general rule of thumb with non-governmental organizations is that administrative costs (overhead) should not be more than 15% of their annual spend. The remaining 85% should go into programs on the ground that make a real difference to people’s lives.
It is worth checking out the financial reports of your favorite charity partner before making a major contribution. Although this information is sometimes difficult to find in the Middle East, the good news is that more and more groups are publishing annual reports that show the breakdown of their costs and that describe their programs in greater detail. A growing number of financial reports are even externally audited, to provide donors with additional assurance that the information in the reports has been verified.
By checking on the finances of the organization you contribute to, you not only ensure that your charity dinars are being well spent; you also help create a culture of accountability — which just as important for social causes as it is in business.
Tip: the website “Charity Navigator” (link: http://www.charitynavigator.org/) provides a rating system for NGOs, that gives you a sense of how well run they are. Unfortunately, Charity Navigator only covers US-based charities at this time, but even if you are looking for an organization that is more local, it is still worth checking out to the website for the criteria on what makes some charities more efficient and effective than others.

4. An organization’s good intentions are not enough, view their impact statistics
Sometimes good marketing can be misleading, and charity organizations are no exceptions. Even if people have the best of intentions, sometimes organizations struggle to deliver real results.
I strongly believe in doing some research on charity partners to get a feel for the scope, scale, and impact of their programs. It makes sense to earmark funds to organizations that can prove through their past performance that they can and do make a difference.
And it’s always an additional bonus when an organization can tell you what sort of impact you can expect for your contribution. For example, at the International Medical Corps, an organization that provides emergency medical relief services around the world, KD 3 can buy a year’s supply of malaria medication for ten children. At Save the Children, KD 20 can provide educational supplies, school fees, and teacher training to keep one child in school for an entire year. It’s important, not to mention rewarding, to know where your money is going and how it will be spent.

The bottom line though: do what feels right
I will reiterate the point that giving is always a personal choice, in terms of cause, organization, and resources. It isn’t a precise science - it’s just each of us doing the best we can to make things a bit better. Ultimately, the most important thing is to do what feels right. That’s what usually carries the day most of the time.

Mariam Al-Foudery can be reached at mariamgrad@gmail.com for comments.