Like many individuals, the elderly woman has a soft spot in her heart for abused and unwanted pets.

Unfortunately, she is exactly the type of person animal welfare charities, both reputable and otherwise, like to target.

The sad tales and photos of pathetic-looking dogs and cats arrive in her mailbox often, accompanied by "Please help me" appeals for donations.

The compassionate woman feels compelled to aid the poor creatures. She opens her checkbook.

The organizations see they have touched her heartstrings.

Now more and more requests pour in. Weekly a mailing arrives with pictures of desperate animals needing her help.

Sometimes these mailings come in the guise of an "invoice." The woman apparently is expected to make a monthly donation, much like she pays her electric and telephone bills.

When a family member questions these regular "bills" from an especially aggressive national animal protection organization, the octogenarian explains, "I'm helping the dogs."

Yes, she is. But unfortunately these hungry dogs are of the human species.

Research into the organization uncovered some surprises. The offending nonprofit received a poor grade from several charity rating services, "for spending paltry amounts on programs and maintaining high fundraising costs," according to the American Institute of Philanthropy.

The organization also was described as "not adequately fulfilling its stated charitable purpose," by another rating service, which said contributions were funding "a bloated staff."

Indeed, the three top salaries of that charity's executives were each in excess of $200,000 a year.

With the major "giving season" fast approaching, how can we be sure our hard-earned donations will be used for the right purposes?

People give for a variety of reasons.

Many folks say they "want to make a difference" or want to "give back" to society. Others feel a duty to help the less fortunate or the environment.

Still others make donations for the tax deductions they can receive.

Regardless of the reasons, donors should be assured their money won't be squandered by the recipient charities.

Donors wishing to support their favorite causes would be wise to investigate the nonprofits before mailing off generous checks.

Call or write to charities under consideration for your monetary gifts. Ask for recent annual reports and descriptions of their missions and program activities.

Check the percentage of donations organizations spend on fundraising and marketing and administrative costs. Most rating services say that figure should be no more than 25 percent.

That means at least 75 percent of contributions should be used for programs which fulfill the organizations' advertised purposes.

Carefully check a charity's name before donating, because some not-so-reputable organizations choose names that closely resemble legitimate nonprofits, perhaps to confuse donors.

And do not be pressured by telephone solicitations or people going door-to-door on behalf of charities.

A huge chunk of those donations, sometimes 90 percent, goes directly to the telemarketing companies or middlemen. The charity gets very little.

Instead, after doing some research, give directly to the charity itself.

It is best to make larger and fewer donations rather than many small contributions, because each donation costs something to process, so the full value of the gift is diminished.

Check out a few websites to see how a charity measures up to your expectations. Some well-known rating services include charitywatch.org, charitynavigator.org, give.org, guidestar.org, and ministrywatch.com. There are others, including through states' attorney general offices.

Donors can experience the unparalleled joy of helping causes dear to them, especially if they know their gifts will be used wisely.

When it comes to charitable giving, it pays to heed both your heart and your head.