How to decide where to donate

Yes, this is important. I know a lot of people who tend to donate just based on the charities mission statement. They look no further and actually have no clue how the money is actually spent. I personally only donate to charities where their work is clearly, frequently, and openly demonstrated, i.e., their specific work is described and recorded so I can see with my own eyes that my money is going to real, helpful actions. Those rating websites are very good too, though I only use them as a supplement to the observable work. Any really good charity will be extremely transparent about their work, offering photos, videos, and a lot of specifics as opposed to things like "for less than a cup of coffee, you can help this poor child in this distant village" kind of shit, but with no actual trustworthy evidence of how good the charity actually is for that child's life, and their family's, and their village, etc. Also, I would encourage people to really consider the bigger picture when it comes to charity. For example (and this is controversial), many people, including myself, believe it actually does more harm than good to send material aid to needy people in 3rd world nations because it completely screws up their local economies and simply creates communities of dependence.