Supporting your favorite charities can be easy

Charities and nonprofits are looking for financial assistance and volunteers to help out at all times of the year, not just during the holiday season. But for many families, it can be difficult to save money and stay organized about how that money is donated, especially if they make donations throughout the year.

For example, when the tsunami struck Japan earlier this year, maybe you made a donation to the American Red Cross for disaster relief efforts. And when your son's school organized a local food drive this spring, your family made another contribution to support that organization. If you also plan to contribute money later this year to a local animal shelter, your church or even a nonprofit youth sporting league, it can be difficult to keep track of how much you've donated.

And for those on a tighter budget, there is always the question of "How can I find a way to give more money to charity?"

Being able to accumulate money through a foundation account can help families across the nation monitor their charitable giving, and also be able to support causes that might need extra assistance at any time of the year, not just the holiday season. GiveBack.org is a website where you can establish a foundation account for free, and then designate through your foundation where and when you want donations made.

You can accumulate money in your foundation a few different ways. First, you can deposit money yourself with a credit card. Second, you can have an automatic withdrawal set up from your paycheck. But maybe the easiest, and most fun way, is for money to be earned while you're shopping.

At GiveBack.org you will find more than 450 retail partners that will contribute a percentage of your online purchases (between 2 to 15 percent) to your foundation. And through a new 100 Days of Giving campaign that ends July 17, all cash back amounts going into your foundation account will be doubled. Separately, select retailers will double, triple or quadruple the normal percentage of your purchases that you make. Some of these select retailers include Nike, Apple, Bloomingdale's, Macy's and Barnes & Noble.

"For many, balancing the checkbook at home means balancing housing payments, food prices and purchasing gas for the car," says Stephen Paletta, founder of GiveBack.org and winner of Oprah's Big Give television show. "It's tough to squeeze together dimes and quarters to give to the charities you love and support. But now your favorite retailers will be donating a percentage of the online purchases you'd be making anyway to those charities through your foundation."

Additional benefits to setting up you own GiveBack foundation include:

* There are more than 1.5 million charities registered with 501(c)(3) numbers, and you can find and review them by topic or geographic location at GiveBack.org.

* Keeping records won't be an issue any longer because donations made through your foundation are available for review at all times, especially when it comes to tax season.

Managing your foundation account is simple, and you may find yourself being able to donate more money through your foundation than you thought possible.