I went to Charity Navigator and they had a whole list of organizations, most of which I’m not familiar with. I really don’t know which factors are the most important to take into account when I’m deciding.
My wife and I like Unicef for getting help to particular countries or events/catastrophes. However, they don’t make it easy for you to specify where your money goes if you use their online donation form (it will go to the general fund of your own country by default I believe). After you donate, you get a donation number and you can then email and request it go to support “Puerto Rico/Bangladesh/Mexico/any number of places needing help”. Unicef’s mission is to help children.
The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) has an A+ rating at CharityWatch and four stars (highest possible) at Charity Navigator. A very cool thing about UMCOR is that all of their administrative costs are paid for by a single special collection taken once annually from UM churches worldwide. With UM congregants picking up the tab for overhead, 100% of your donation goes to the relief and recovery effort you specify. They also stay for the long haul- for example, they’re still in Haiti after the terrible earthquake there seven years ago.
I acknowledge that as a Methodist myself I’m being a total homer about this, but dangit, UMCOR really is a great charity.