To those whom much is given, much is expected.

Giving to charity is a great thing. If you're lucky enough to have a little extra money around, it's honorable and downright nice to give it those less fortunate than yourself. The problem is: how on earth do you decide where to send your dollars? There are zillions upon zillions of charities, foundations, 501(c)(3)'s, nonprofits, and hippie save-the-world types (There are also a zillion ways for them for classify themselves).

Today, I got a call from one such nonprofit organization. This one is a musical organization that got my information because I bought tickets to a holiday concert back in December. The concert was wonderful, but with all those struggling in the world, do they really need my money more than say, AIDS victims, for instance? Still, I've been musically inclined since I was little, and I have a soft spot for such groups. So, I caved under the pressure to get back to my already too stressful work day and agreed to have $15 charged to my credit card each month. Suckers - there's one born every minute.

Now that I've begun my 2006 charitable giving (which will in no way be impressive because I remain financially crippled by student loans), I am racked with indecision over how to pick other worthy causes. On the one hand, the answer seems clear. Cancer has hit my family like the hurricanes battered the Lousiana coast. I definitely want to contribute most of my available monies to a cancer research charity. There are tons of hospitals, foundations and think tanks, all more than worthy of my money. I picked the one that's worked directly with my family, but it seems like nothing I give will be enough. The nagging voice in my head utters the following guilt trip, "Perhaps, PAF, if you laid off the obsessive compulsive shopping, you could do a better job at saving the world." Of course, its devilish counterpart invariably follows with, "What are the odds of that? You've had a terrible day -- won't some nice new shoes make it all better?"