As I explained in two earlier posts, next week is Democratic Underground's Fourth Quarter Donation Drive. In the spirit of "giving back" for Thanksgiving, the DU Admins thought it might be worthwhile to select a charity each day to receive 10% of the funds donated to Democratic Underground that day.

Earlier this week, DUers suggested a number of great charites to benefit from the 10% promotion. I encourage everyone to take a look at all the suggested charities -- it is a fantastic list, with a number of well-known national charities, as well as smaller, more targeted (sometimes local) charities.

With so many charities to choose from, the DU Admins are having a difficult time coming up with a final list of six. One thing we are trying to decide is whether to pick large charities, smaller charities, or a mix of both. Here's our thinking:

Large, national charities - The benefit of choosing large, national charities, is that we would have a wide list of general themes which should appeal to the broadest range of DUers. We think almost everyone here would be able to find at least one charity (and probably many) that they support. The downside, I think, is that our total contribution to all the charities (probably totaling between $2,000 and $3,000) will be a tiny drop in a very large bucket.

Smaller, more targeted (and local) charities - The benefit of choosing smaller charities is that our small contributions would have a bigger impact. Also, we would be giving some visibility to organizations that are doing good work, but are not well known. Our contribution would likely be going to a specific project, rather than a very broad range of different things.

A mix of large and small charities - Perhaps we should get the "best of both worlds" and pick a few large charities and a few small charities. (This is the option that the DU Admins are leaning toward right now.)

So, what do you think?

(Please kick and recommend so more DUers get a chance to vote.)