Give wisely: Know how much of your donation a charity receives

'Tis the season for giving.  But before you donate your hard-earned cash to charity, you should know what KIRO 7 Consumer Investigator Amy Clancy has learned about commercial fundraisers in Washington State.

When we talk about commercial fundraisers, we're talking about businesses that get paid to solicit donations.

Some commercial fundraisers give more money to the actual charity they're raising money for than others.

Some don't give much at all.

Secretary of State Sam Reed and Attorney General Rob McKenna on Thursday revealed which fundraisers gave more -- and which gave less -- in the year 2010.

It's an annual report released at the end of every year to help consumers determine who they really want to donate to.

• See complete charity fundraiser report
• Overview of charity fundraiser report
• News release from Secretary of State Reed, Attorney General McKenna

For example, Coinstar, of Bellevue, gave 93% of the nearly $189,000 it raised last year to charities such as the American Heart Association, Northwest Harvest, the March of Dimes and many others.

According to the report, that totaled $175,000, the second highest percentage of giving last year.

But Xentel, a Ft. Lauderdale organization that raises money here in Washington, raised more than $13 million in 2010 for many organizations, including veterans groups, state troopers and the Committee for Missing Children.

Yet, according to the Secretary of State's Office, only 15 percent of that money -- just over $2 million -- actually went to the charities.

I called Xentel to find out where the rest of that money went, and so far, have not received a call back.

The reason for the report is so that consumers can make informed decisions when handing over their money.

"Our role is to register these companies and to get the information from them. They have to pay a fee and stuff. But we do not have investigative authority to check to see if they're really legitimate and that's part of why you need to be aware," said Secretary of State Sam Reed.

Joyce Barnowski says she receives a few phone calls a day asking for donations.

"I've had several incidents about scams, and I feel I want to be informed," she says.

But she's careful.

Today's message certainly wasn't: "Don't give to these groups."

It's just: "Be informed."

And when in doubt, you can always donate directly to a charity -- not a business that is raising money on its behalf.

To check-out exactly how much money is really going to help others -- and how much is going somewhere else ---

Complete report:

Full 2011 Commercial Fundraiser Activity Report