BoingBoing has posted their yearly charitable gift-giving guide, primarily concentrating on US, UK, and Canadian nonprofits that are concerned with electronic freedom.
Electronic Frontier Foundation: EFF always gets my largest annual donation.
Last year: No organization works harder, spends smarter and gets more done for your personal long-term technological liberty than EFF. I spent years inside the org and I know for a fact that every dime donated makes a difference.
This year: Man, that goes TRIPLE this year. EFF’s major work on clobbering the NSA and AT&T for their massive, illegal wiretapping program has convinced me to give EFF more money than I’ve ever given to a charity in my life. If one organization is going to keep the Internet free and open, it’s EFF. Add to that a raft of incredibly smart hires this year, and you’ve got a powerhouse organization that deserves everything you can spare for them.
The EFF frequently gets my charitable dollar as well, but there’s lots more–Creative Commons, The Internet Archive, NO2ID, et cetera–to choose from.
(p.s. – If you want to do something a little more traditional, check out Heifer International, my favorite meatspace charity.)