Right now I don't give a large amount to charity past Kiva loans (I try to average $25 every month or two) and a handful of causes online (sub $500/yr) on an as-needed basis. I'm trying to be as aggressive as possible paying off my debt (my debt payoff is a little over 30% of what I take home monthly and I plan on using the "snowball method" so that number will not change as I pay off debt to accelerate the payoff) because it doesn't seem smart to give away money when that puts me on the hook for more money (interest). If there is an error in this logic I would greatly appreciate it being pointed out to me.

I'd be interested in increasing my charitable contributions but I'm not sure where would be best to send more money to. I am personally a fan of direct charity instead of going through an organization as I feel it reduces overhead. I like Kiva loans because once I get paid back I just re-loan the money so that slowly I am increasing the amount I loan monthly while keeping my monthly contribution the exact same (or slowly increasing it, I want to get to $50/mo within a few months). I also like Kiva because I know exactly how much is going to Kiva vs the person asking for money (something that is hidden or hard to find out for most charities IMHO).

My approach is not based on anything specific it's more of just what has happened naturally since I started working full time.