Charitable giving is rapidly emerging as one of the Web's most beneficial functions. The satisfaction of helping a good cause is now as easy as logging onto the Internet and filling out a form.

You can now find sites such as www.charitymall.com, www.igive.com, or www.schoolcash.com that allow you to "shop" for a charity. Once you have signed up for a membership and chosen where you want your donation sent, the site will send a percentage of your online spending to your selected charity. Members have access to a large number of popular merchants. The only difference is that instead of going to the merchant's site directly, you access it from the so-called "shop-for-a-cause" site.

BBB Wise Giving Alliance warns that people should learn as much as they can about these sites before using them. They tend to vary in the percentage of purchases donated and in the number and type of charities and retailers that are available. Some keep a portion of the fees paid to them by retailers, while others donate the entire amount. "Shop-for-a-cause" sites and the charities they benefit are not strictly regulated, and their practices have not necessarily been evaluated by an outside organization.