With a world of problems and so many charities begging for your money, how do you decide which charity to support? Which problem has highest priority? It’s the one with highest mortality rate and highest prevalence that affects children primarily and is cheapest to cure or prevent. No problem beats hunger by these criteria.

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So, donate to end hunger. It gives the biggest bang for the buck.

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Many charities fight hunger. How do you decide which one to support? Goggle the charity’s most recent IRS 990 form. Look at Section IX column A, item 25, “Total Functional Expense,” or TSE. This is the amount the charity spent for the designated year. Then sum items 4 through 10. This is the amount the charity spent on member benefits, employee compensation, pensions and other employee benefits, and payroll taxes. Let’s call it “Self.” Subtract this “Self” from TSE and calculate the difference as percent of TSE. This is the maximal amount the charity spent on fighting hunger. Let’s call it “% Available.” The bigger this amount, the better the charity. Then look at Section VII, “Executive Compensation.” Find the top compensation summed across all three columns. The smaller this sum, the better. Finally calculate the ratio of % Available to Top Comp. The bigger this number, the better. Let’s call it “Quality Score.” Approved charities are listed with these numbers.