You're inspired to help out, but where should you send your donations? That's been a question weighing heavily on a lot of people's minds, especially since last summer's Gulf Coast hurricanes and the earthquake this spring in Indonesia.

In the aftermath of many crises, scam charities quickly pop up to prey on people's big hearts and open pockets. Warnings about bogus charities have added to the importance of discerning which nonprofit organizations deserve your support. Sure, the American Red Cross is for real, but is it more efficient at delivering aid than, say, Catholic Charities? Even if you take the time to check with state and federal agencies to make sure a charity is registered and qualifies for a tax exemption, that's no guarantee the group is feeding needy children or saving the manatee rather than paying its executives lofty salaries.

Here are five ways to check out a charity and make sure your donations aren't frittered away or stolen by scammers:

Visit the watchdogs. Three groups put large, general-interest charities under the microscope: the American Institute of Philanthropy (www.charitywatch.org), the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance (www.give.org), and Charity Navigator (www.charitynavigator.org). Those watchdogs, nonprofits themselves, use different standards for their reviews, so you should check them all. Wise Giving Alliance and Charity Navigator provide free online evaluations. Also, the Wise Giving Alliance will send you four copies of its quarterly giving guide for a donation of $45 or more, and offers a free sample of its Giving Guide. AIP offers a free list of its top-rated charities in 36 categories. Donations of $40 or more will get you three issues of its charity-rating guide, though you can ask for a free sample. Charity Navigator also maintains a Holiday Giving Guide, which you can get by visiting its Web site (www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm/bay/content.view/cpid/518.htm).

Two organizations that focus on Christian groups are Wall Watchers' MinistryWatch program (www.ministrywatch.org), which ranks more than 400 Christian ministries, such as the Campus Crusade for Christ and Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network, according to their financial efficiency, and the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (www.ecfa.org), which provides accreditation to Christian charities that meet its standards.

But the watchdogs tend to concentrate on large, national charities. A good place to turn for local charities, including churches and hospitals, is regional groups, such as the Minnesota Community Research Council's Charities Review Council (www.smartgivers.org) and more than 120 local Better Business Bureaus (lookup.bbb.org). Look for the bureau that is nearest the charity you're interested in supporting. If a charity is too new to have a track record, take the time to look over the group's goals, the members of its board of directors and top staff, and its first year's budget, advises Bennett Weiner, chief operating officer of the Wise Giving Alliance. You might also want to check with the state attorney general's office to see whether it has received any complaints about the charity. The National Association of Attorneys General (www.naag.org) maintains a state-by-state contact list.

Crunch the numbers. Consider doing some of your own research. At GuideStar (www.guidestar.org), you can register free of charge and download the 990 IRS tax return of any hundreds of thousands of nonprofit organizations. Only houses of worship and charities with revenues under $25,000 are exempt from filing this document. Many groups will send you their annual reports and audited financial statements, which might also be posted on their Web sites. The annual report provides financial information and outlines the charity's accomplishments. If you are considering a large donation, you might want to become one of GuideStar's paying subscribers and get additional information (tax forms, a charity tracker, and analyst reports).

Making your way through the 990 and audited financial statements is no less onerous than doing your taxes. But with a little patience, you'll find many specifics on a nonprofit organization's finances, which you can review using the watchdog groups' guidelines. The Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York (npccny.org/Form_990/990.htm) provides an excellent primer on how to interpret the form. When reading the audited financial statements, examine the notes and auditors opinion, which might hint of poor accounting practices and other deficiencies. Here are some other 990 red flags to watch for:

• More than 35 percent of spending is used for fund-raising and administrative costs. Nonprofit organizations should be using the bulk of their income on their charitable programs.
• Unrestricted assets, including unrestricted cash and securities, equal more than three times annual expenses. Charities should be using their money for public good, not hoarding it.
• Joint education and fund-raising expenses make up a large portion of total spending. The group may be trying to disguise the cost of its fund-raising solicitations as public education.
• The board of directors has fewer than five voting members, more than 10 percent of the members are compensated, or compensated members hold the position of chairman or treasurer. Board members should be independent of management and free of potential conflicts of interest.

Give to a network. To avoid problems, you can use fund-raising networks. Alas, they have suffered their own ethical lapses. Those who remember the 1995 conviction of the United Way's national president for embezzling more than a half-million dollars would probably still hesitate a decade later to give it more money. But the United Way is a national network that distributes the bulk of contributions through more than 1,300 locally governed organizations that have proved their value and stood up to financial scrutiny.

Some communities have other so-called fund-raising networks, such as Community Shares and local affiliates of Earth Share, a national network of environmental groups. Donating through such groups can be an effective way to give to organizations that aren't large enough to appear on the watchdogs' radar screens. Fund-raising through a federation or network can be more efficient for the charity, too, allowing more money to go to programs.

When contributing, ask about the criteria a federation uses to select participating charities, advises Daniel Borochoff, president of the American Institute of Philanthropy. Find out whether the federation reviews its members' financial documents and management practices and whether it has enforced its policies by ejecting violators. Also, request information about how donations are distributed. Are they divided equally or does the federation use some other method for deciding how much a group receives?

Don't be fooled. Sometimes scammers and charities with less-than-stellar reputations use look-alike names that can trick you into giving to the wrong organization. Take the Children's Wish Foundation International. Unlike its respected counterpart, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, its scores on Charity Navigator are unimpressive: it received one of a maximum four stars and an overall rating of 28.71 on a scale of 70.00.

Then there are outright frauds. In May 2005, the first punishment was handed down for a Hurricane Katrina-related charity fraud when a Florida man was sentenced to 21 months in prison. The man ran AirKatrina.com, a site that sought donations to pay for air delivery of supplies to Louisiana. At one point, in just two days, the site received almost $40,000 in donations from 48 people across the world. Where'd the money end up? In the man's personal PayPal account.

Another danger: spam e-mail solicitations. In a September speech in New Orleans, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said that the Hurricane Katrina Task Force had charged 400 defendants in 30 judicial districts across the country with for fraud related to Katrina, some of which was were carried out through fake e-mail and Internet charities. The e-mail might include links to sites that look like the Web sites of legitimate charities but are actually copycats whose real purpose is to steal your credit-card information. Following Hurricane Katrina, the Justice Department reported that some people received e-mail with references to sites that sounded as if they were associated with legitimate groups, such as the American Red Cross, but which contained "strong indications" of fraud.

Hang up on telemarketers. They often work for independent fund-raising companies that keep a large percentage of the donations they raise on a nonprofit's behalf. A 2004 study by the New York Attorney General's office of 529 charities employing telemarketers found that the telemarketers pocketed nearly two thirds of all donated money. According to the study, $124.3 million of the $187.4 million raised was applied for fund-raising costs and other fees. That's a 66 percent chance that any money you donate through telemarketers won't reach its intended beneficiaries.

Also, giving through a telemarketer denies you the opportunity to check out the charity. Worse, the caller could be a swindler out to get your credit-card number. Some organizations, such as colleges and public TV stations, often employ their own telemarketers. But if you want to be sure your entire donation is going to the right place, hang up the phone and contact the charity directly.