The best ways to give to charity this Christmas

Everyone likes to give to charity at Christmas. But how can you go about doing so that you and the charity get the best possible feel-good factor out of it?

First, make sure you GiftAid everything as you give it so the charity can reclaim your income tax. You might also consider if you can giving not just a one off, but a regular gift. Charities need a steady cash flow to fund ongoing projects, so while a Christmas donation is always appreciated, a monthly direct debit is more useful. It might also be easier for you to budget a small amount each month than dip into your pocket at Christmas time, the most expensive time of the year.

If you do want to give a little each month, consider Give As You Earn, where donations are taken from your pre-tax pay and hence benefit from the full income-tax relief. That means a £10 donation would only cost a basic-rate taxpayer £8. See www.cafonline.org to find out how to set this up.

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If you think you can't spare the money for a cash donation right now, consider having a clear out instead. The recession has meant that charity shops have been doing a roaring trade, so are more in need of donations than ever. So clear out the wardrobe to make room for those January sale purchases and take everything down to the shop.

Finally, be careful where you buy your charity Christmas cards from. Many cards on the high street actually give a meagre amount of the price to charity. For example, only 13% of the price of charity cards from Morrisons goes to charity. To buy cards that genuinely benefit charities, buy them from Cardsforcharity.co.uk. This website sells a range of cards for various charities, with at least 75p of every £1 going to the charities themselves.