I came across this website and thought it might be useful for those of you considering making a donation this holiday season (and any other time you are feeling charitable):

http://www.charity-charities.org/Italy-charities/Italy.html

It is called something like Charity Vault.

My favorite standby for the U.S., which also does rate some international charitable organizations is Charity Navigator:

http://www.charitynavigator.org/

It can sometimes be quite surprising to find out how efficient your favorite charitable groups are at using your hard-earned $$!!

-Michele