A List of 10 Top Charities

Disaster Relief

Direct Relief International

The mission: To provide medical assistance to international victims of poverty, natural disasters, and civil unrest.

Why it stands out: In all 50 states and in 70 countries, Direct Relief works with local partners to make sure that health-care providers can get medications and supplies. For example, this year the group, which spends nearly 99 percent of its budget on medical assistance, treated victims of Cyclone Daphne in Fiji until normal health-care services were restored. Direct Relief has also endeavored to reduce the transmission of HIV/AIDS by distributing 20 million rapid HIV tests, which give results in 15 minutes without the need for a lab or electricity, in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Your money at work: A $250 donation provides equipment and supplies for a midwife to safely deliver 10 babies in a war-torn region of Africa.