Gift-giving and receiving can be fun and meaningful, however, many of us have too much “stuff” already. Receiving more gifts typically means storing our older things, until we have homes, garages and even storage units crammed full of unused possessions. Rather than giving a gift, have you considered making a gift donation to an asthma charity on behalf of a loved one or friend? The end of the year and the holiday season are a couple of the most popular times to make donations to charities, including charitable asthma organizations.

Benefits of Giving to an Aasthms Charity
There are several reasons to give to charitable asthma organizations:
 Donations are a popular way to reach out and help others who are in need.
 Giving to an asthma charity helps to fight asthma and support asthma research, education and advocacy.
 A donation is a wonderful way to memorialize a loved one who suffered from asthma. It’s also a way to honor someone you know who has asthma.
 Donations to reputable charities can be deducted from your taxes, if you itemize.
 Helping others makes you feel better, and might even make a difference in your life or the life of a loved one who is diagnosed with asthma.

Find Reputable Organizations
Once you’ve decided to make a donation to an asthma organization, the next step is to find reputable charity organizations. Two main sites in the U.S. that help you to find the most reputable asthma organizations are Charity Navigator, and the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance program (links to both of these organizations can be found at the end of this article). Both of these sites have easy-to-navigate data bases and offer rating systems to help you see which charitable organizations are the most reputable. Each site lists the contact information for each charity, along with financial reports, and tax status.

Suggested Asthma Charities
After studying the websites for asthma charities (please take a look for yourself), I found the following asthma charities:

Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA)
American Lung Association
National Jewish Health

I have no affiliation with any of these organizations, but I have personally benefited from them all due to donors who supported research and education. Each of these organizations offers different ways to make donations. For instance, the AAFA offers an entire page of donation options; from making a donation online to holding your own asthma fundraisers.

The American Lung Association offers online donation support, a vehicle donation program (where you donate your vehicle to the association and get a nice tax write-off), and even offers information on estate planning and charitable gift annuities.

National Jewish Health also offers several ways to help. You can make a charitable donation directly on their website, you can support specific programs, and they also offer advice and information on estate planning and charitable gift annuities.

These are only three asthma organizations you can choose to help. Your support will help further research, education, find new treatments and more. Your donation will help those who have asthma to have better quality of life. Charitable giving is a wonderful way to help others, while reducing the “things” with which we tend to surround ourselves. Consider making a donation to help support asthma research, it might just save your life or the life of a loved one.

Resource Links
Charity Navigator: http://www.charitynavigator.org/
Better Business Bureau's Wise Gifting Alliance: http://www.bbb.org/charity-reviews/national/

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