Each year, Microsoft hosts an internal donation drive called giving campaign. I usually donate a day's salary and Microsoft kindly matches 100% of the donation. To me, personal finance improvement is not only about saving money; wisely using money is equally important.

I love to donate for a cause, so every year, I spend several hours to research trying to locate trustworthy organizations with missions that inspire me. I probably don't have to do this comparison-donating exercise this year: Hurricane Katrina is definitely a good cause for the year.

In addition, for the month of September, I will donate some ad space at PFBlog to American Red Cross. Namely, the top right corner and the space after each "My Personal Finance Journey" post. If you have your own web site, you can donate ad space too by simply signing up and getting the banners from Red Cross. (Banners of all sizes are available.)

If you want to donate cash, below is a very complete list of agencies that support Hurricane Katrina relief efforts:

American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee <http://www.jdc.org>
PO Box 321
847A Second Ave.
New York, NY 10017
(212) 885-0832
        
American Jewish World Service <http://www.ajws.org>
45 West 36th St., 10th Floor
New York, NY 10018
(800) 889-7146
        
American Red Cross <http://www.redcross.org>
2025 E St. NW
Washington, DC 20006
(202) 303-4498
Donations: (800) HELP NOW (435-7669)
        
AmeriCares <http://www.americares.org>
88 Hamilton Ave.
Stamford, CT 06902
(800) 486-4357
        
Baptist World Aid <http://www.bwanet.org/bwaid>
405 North Washington St.
Falls Church, VA 22046
(703) 790-8980
        
Baton Rouge Federation <http://www.braf.org/>
402 N. Fourth St.
Baton Rouge, LA 70802
(225) 387-6126
        
B'nai B'rith International <http://www.bnaibrith.org>
B'nai B'rith Disaster Relief Fund
2020 K St. NW, 7th Floor
Washington, DC 20006
(212) 490-3290
        
Brother's Brother Foundation <http://www.brothersbrother.org>
1200 Galveston Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15233
(412) 321-3160
        
Catholic Charities <http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/>
1731 King St.
Alexandria, VA 22314
(703) 549-1390
        
Christian Reformed World Relief Committee <http://www.crwrc.org>
2850 Kalamazoo Ave. SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49560
(800) 55 CRWRC (552-7972)
        
Church World Service <http://www.churchworldservice.org>
PO Box 968
Elkhart, IN 46515
(800) 297-1516
        
Convoy of Hope <http://www.convoyofhope.org/>
330 S. Patterson Ave.
Springfield, MO 65802
(417) 823-8244
        
Direct Relief International <http://www.directrelief.org>
27 South La Patera Lane
Santa Barbara, CA 93117
(805) 964-4767
        
Episcopal Relief & Development <http://www.er-d.org>
815 Second Ave.
New York, NY 10017
(800) 334-7626, Ext. 5129
        
Feed the Children <http://www.feedthechildren.org/site/PageServer?pagename=dotorg_homepage>
PO Box 36
Oklahoma City, OK 73101-0036
(405) 942-0228
        
Food for the Hungry <http://www.fh.org>
1224 E. Washington St.
Phoenix, AZ 85034
(800) 2 HUNGERS (248-6437)
        
Habitat for Humanity <http://www.habitat.org>
121 Habitat St
Americus, GA 31709
(229) 924-6935
        
Heart to Heart International <http://www.hearttoheart.org>
401 S. Clairborne Rd. #302
Olathe, KS 66062
(888) 800-4327
        
Hearts with Hands <http://www.heartswithhands.org/>
951 Sand Hill Rd.
Asheville, NC 28806
(828) 667-1912
        
Humane Society of the United States <http://www.hsus.org/>
2100 L St. NW
Washington, DC
(202) 452-1100
        
International Aid <http://www.internationalaid.org>
17011 W. Hickory St.
Spring Lake, MI 49456
(800) 968-7490
        
International Orthodox Christian Charities <http://www.iocc.org>
PO Box 630225
Baltimore, MD 21263-0225
(877) 803-4622
        
Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals <http://www.la-spca.org/home.htm>
1319 Japonica St.
New Orleans, LA 70117
(504) 944-7445
        
Lutheran Disaster Response <http://www.ldr.org/>
8765 Higgins Road
Chicago, IL 60631
(800) 638-3522, Ext. 2822
        
Lutheran World Relief <http://www.lwr.org>
700 Light St.
Baltimore, MD 21230
(410) 230-2700
        
Mennonite Disaster Service <http://www.mercyusa.org>
1018 Main St.
Akron , PA 17501
(717) 859-2210
        
Mercy Corps <http://www.mercycorps.org/>
PO Box 2669
Portland, OR 97208
(800) 852-2100
        
Mercy-USA for Aid and Development <http://www.mercyusa.org>
44450 Pinetree Dr. #201
Plymouth, MI 48170-3869
(800) 556-3729
        
National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster <http://www.nvoad.org/>
PO Box 151973
Alexandria, VA 22315
(703) 339-5596
        
North Shore Animal League America <http://www.nsalamerica.org/>
25 Davis Ave,
Port Washington, NY 11050
(516) 883-7575
        
Northwest Medical Teams <http://www.nwmedicalteams.org>
PO Box 10
Portland, OR 97207-0010
(503) 624-1000
        
Operation Blessing <http://www.opusa.org>
977 Centerville Turnpike
Virginia Beach, VA 23463
(757) 226-3393
        
Operation USA <http://www.ob.org/>
8320 Melrose Ave. #200
Los Angeles, CA 90069
(800) 678-7255
        
Salvation Army <http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/>
615 Slaters Lane
PO Box 269
Alexandria, VA 22313
        
Samaritan's Purse <http://www.samaritanspurse.org/>
PO Box 3000
Boone, NC 28607
(828) 262-1980
        
Society of St. Vincent de Paul <http://www.svdpusa.org/>
58 Progress Pkwy.
St. Louis, MO 63043-3706
(314) 576-3993
        
United Jewish Communities <http://www.svdpusa.org/>
PO Box 30
Old Chelsea Station
New York, NY 10113
(212) 284-6500
        
United Methodist Committee on Relief <http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/05/katrinaresp.cfm>
General Board of Global Ministries
475 Riverside Dr. #330
New York, NY 10115
(212) 870-3816
        
United Way of America <http://national.unitedway.org/>
701 N. Fairfax St.
Alexandria, VA 22314
(703) 836-7100
        
Water Missions International <http://www.watermissions.org/>
PO Box 31258
Charleston SC 29417
(843) 769-7395
        
World Concern <http://www.worldconcern.org>
19303 Fremont Ave. N
Seattle, WA 98133
(800) 755-5022
        
World Hope International <http://www.worldhope.org>
PO Box 96338
Washington DC 20090
(888) 466-4673
        
World Vision <http://www.worldvision.org/>
PO Box 70288
Tacoma, WA 98481-0288
(888) 56 CHILD (562-4453)