Everyone knows that donating money to charity is a good thing. But which charity? How do you decide which charities to give money to?

If we just consider the poorest developing countries, what is the best kind of assistance we could give them? Malaria nets? Drinking water? Measles vaccines? Antibiotics? Food? Or birth control?

I’m still deciding how to spread my charity donations, but I’ve decided I want to support a mixture of local, national and international charities, and at levels ranging from relief of hunger and disease to support of education and entrepreneurship. For the latter case, I’ve started lending through Kiva.

My plans for giving to charity have advanced one step further – I’ve now signed up for the Unicef Global Parents program. That pretty much takes care of the international and extreme poverty end of the spectrum. At the more local and personal end of the scale, I also support the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust, since several of my family members have needed this to get to hospital.