Ideas on choosing which charitable organization to support this holiday season.

If there�s ever a season to give to those in need, it�s around Thanksgiving and Christmas. During these months we take time to give gifts, cherish family and reconnect with old friends. It�s also the time when many feel the desire to spread good cheer by giving to charities. Our spirit of giving soars during the holidays.

How do you choose which charitable organization to support? The first step is to know which organizations are out there, and that�s where the internet comes in. We can�t list every charitable website, but here are some top picks for charitable giving during this holiday season.

Angel Tree � www.prisonfellowship.org/angeltree

Right now, an estimated 2.7 million children have a parent in prison. The number is huge � but so is the opportunity to help these children. According to the organization�s website, �For these children, their story may be filled with the abandonment, loneliness and shame that come from having a mom or dad in prison. For many, it may also include following their parents down the same destructive road to incarceration. Angel Tree, a program of Prison Fellowship, reaches out to the children of prisoners and their families.� Through Angel Tree, you can help meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of these families. The program provides an opportunity to connect with these families and begin ministering to them at Christmas and then continue through a variety of year-round ministry opportunities.

Trees for Troops � www.treesfortroops.org

Trees for Troops, a program of the Christmas SPIRIT Foundation, provides real Christmas trees to armed forces members and their families in the U.S. and stationed overseas. Since 2005, more than 176,000 free farm-grown Christmas trees have been provided to troops and military families in the United States and overseas through Trees for Troops. Thousands of trees have been donated by growers and the public, and FedEx has provided the in-kind service of shipping these trees to more than 60 military bases while logging more than 573,000 ground miles.

Make-A-Wish � www.wish.org

Make this holiday season special by helping a child�s dream come true. Make-A-Wish�s unique holiday-donation options will help grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions. Since 1980, the Make-A-Wish Foundation has been enriching the lives of children with life-threatening medical conditions through its wish-granting work. Whether it�s a wish to meet a favorite celebrity or a desire to dance with professional ballerinas, the Foundation grants wishes to children who struggle to keep hope in the face of enormous adversity. By giving to this organization, you�re helping make dreams come true.

Salvation Army � www.salvationarmy.org

The Salvation Army fundraising campaigns are conducted locally and regionally. There is no fundraising at the national level. The organization gets its funds through traditional Christmas-kettle campaigns, direct-mail programs, corporate and foundation gifts, planned giving and government contracts. The red kettles and bell-ringers are perhaps the most visible community-wide Salvation Army program. During the holidays, the nickels, dimes and dollars put into the kettles provide needy families with Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, gifts for children, coats and shoes for needy kids, and visits to the elderly and imprisoned who have no one to care for them.

Samaritan�s Purse/Operation Christmas Child � www.samaritanspurse.org

This is a unique project of Samaritan�s Purse that enables caring people to share love with hurting girls and boys in the far corners of the globe. Take an ordinary shoe box, fill it with toys and other presents, and you have an extraordinary gift for a child in need of joy and hope.

Toys For Tots � www.toysfortots.org

Donate a new toy or give a donation to help make Christmas a little brighter for a needy child in your community. The mission of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys For Tots Program is to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December each year, and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to needy children in the community in which the campaign is conducted. The primary goal of Toys For Tots is to deliver, through a shiny new toy at Christmas, a message of hope to needy youngsters that will motivate them to grow into responsible, productive, patriotic citizens and community leaders.

GoodShop � www.goodshop.com

This website�s tagline says it all: �You shop. You save. We give.� Every time you click over to one of GoodShop�s partner merchants from the GoodShop site and then make a purchase, your nonprofit charity or school earns money. GoodShop is connected with over 114,000 nonprofits and schools, which means that you can shop for your cause no matter the scale. And if your local nonprofit or school isn�t listed with the website, it�s an easy process to get it added to the list. The GoodShop concept is simple and compelling. It makes giving as easy as shopping.

The United Way � www.unitedway.org

With the United Way, a little goes a long way. It is a coalition of charitable organizations that has traditionally pooled efforts in fundraising. United Way�s focus is on community building through local partnerships with government, foundations, schools, and other organizations. United Way focuses on education, income and health � three major elements of a prosperous community. The community-based organization believes working on these core issues creates a win-win situation for the majority of the community. It�s not so much one-on-one as it is all-for-one.