My approved Charity (thanks, TalkBoard!) is
Kiva, which links people who want to assist others with low income entrepreneurs in developing nations (and their non-profit partners) to take out microloans to help themselves and their families.
Imagine an Internet-based
Grameen Bank with a global reach, linking people all over the world. Kiva and its local partners vet the prospective borrowers and make sure the money gets back.
Lenders make no interest, but can withdraw their money as the loan is repaid - personally, I choose to relend it. No interest accrues to lenders, and we are asked to support the loan "bank" or "infrastructure," which in this case is Kiva (Internal Revenue Service 501 (c) (3) not-for profit organization to which donations are tax deductible in the USA.) You can read exactly how and why they do it
here.
"
We Let You Loan to the Working Poor
Kiva's mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty.
Kiva is the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world."
We have a thread with posts by some of the
FlyerTalkers Lending Team right
here.