The place where I work do charities twice a year. Both of them told me that only 10-15% of the money they collect actually goes to charity.
If you donated to the Salvation army or The American Red Cross for hurricane Katrina relief or Tsunami relief and didn't specify that it was intended for that purpose they used the money where the wanted.
These are two excellent charities BTW.
Those who donated to charities during the 911 disaster were hosed by that.
There are some bad charities out there but that should
NOT stop anyone from giving. There are always going to be bad apples out there. Give from the heart and give joyfully.
If you want to know where to give check around:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=christian+charity+organizations+rating&btnG=Search
http://www.charitywatch.org/toprated.html
Danny