Looking to make a year-end charitable donation?

Whether it's inspired by lingering holiday cheer or the fear of the
coming tax season, the last few days of the year are one of the most
popular times of the year for charitable giving. From traditional
donations in a church basket or Salvation Army kettle to giving
through texting or the Internet, donors have more options for
philanthropy than ever before.

Charity Navigator is a nonprofit organization dedicated to evaluating
philanthropic organizations and providing donors with the information
they need to make a good decision about where to give. The group
routinely assigns charities "star ratings" that help users see which
organizations it has determined to be most effective in using donated
dollars for the public good.

The Charity Navigator website currently lists four organizations with
headquarters in Houston Heights that have received four out of four
stars from the group. The one with the highest overall rating was the
Small Steps Nurturing Center, which provides early childhood education
for approximately 102 inner-city children. The center addresses its
students' cognitive, social, emotional, medical and nutritional needs
in order to better prepare them for elementary school. It operates
five days a week for ten months of the year at no charge to the
children's families.

Charity Navigator determined that 84.8 of Small Steps's funds go to
support programs and services rather than administrative expenses or
fundraising. The organization also received high marks for its
long-term stability and effectiveness. To learn more about how Charity
Navigator reached their conclusions, view their data here.

The offices of Small Steps are located at 1709 DePelchin St. Donations
may be mailed to 2902 Jensen Drive, Houston, TX 77026. To learn more
about their organization, call 713-236-0330 or visit ssnc.org.

Here are the other organizations that received four-star rankings from
Charity Navigator, as well as their phone numbers and websites:

United Way of Greater Houston - 713-685-2800 -
www.unitedwayhouston.org

Communities in Schools Houston - 713-654-1515 - www.cishouston.org

Boy Scouts of America - Sam Houston Area Council - 713-659-8111 -
www.shac.org

Note that not all philanthropic organizations are listed by Charity
Navigator, so just because your favorite cause did not receive a
four-star rating does not mean it is not worthy of your support.