You control...

[houseelf]

A hypothetical...

You control a LARGE amount of money all of which must be given to charity. What do you choose?

Kelly

Hard to say...a mix of local, national, international focusing on food and medical treatment and projects promoting self-reliance. I would also include the Nepalese Youth Opportunity Fndn for a bunch of reasons, a big one being that they help prevent young girls from being sold into servitude.

What about you?

[houseelf]

There are so many...

An educational initiative (especially school choice related)
Planned parenthood
Heifer international

Kelly

[DCJenn]

Environmental issues (I figure if there's no clean air or water then really, what's the point of all of the social concerns? besides, a lot of the time the environmental concerns ARE social concerns)

So, I'd donate to various ocean and other waterway organizations, sustainable farming initiatives, environmental research groups, and rainforest reforestation efforts.

Jenn

[Auspicious]

I agree with the mix of local, national, and international, and my emphases tend to be education, keeping people from starving to death in the streets, and medicine.

If I controlled a large amount of money, I'd get myself an advisor who knew the non-profit world and could tell me which charities were well-run and would use the money most efficiently.

I'd need to consult a professional too, but off the top of my head:
A charitable organization that benefits public schools
AMFAR
ACS
Heiffer
Planned Parenthood of South Dakota, Mississippi, Ohio... (all the 13 states considering a total ban)
Greenpeace/Sierra Club
SPCA

a group of my girlfriends gets together each winter and exchanges holiday gifts. last year, i donated $$ in each girl's name to different organizations... american cancer society, heiffer, american way, big brothers big sisters, donorschoose.com, kidney foundation, and care international. each organization fit the person in whose name the donation was made. it went over really well.