Americans are the most generous people on Earth.

We gave $295 billion to 1.4 million charities and foundations in 2006, according to Giving USA. That's an average of nearly $1,000 per U.S. man, woman and child.

But is all that money being used as the donors intend? Be proactive when donating to a charity. Seek them out instead of responding to unsolicited requests, because crooks are notorious for collecting millions of dollars from well-meaning people.

Before you give, consider these points:

Do you recognize the name? Be careful, because many illegal charities use names that deliberately sound like legitimate...