This year we quit giving to the church we used to attend (we may go back, but needed a break; has nothing to do with the religion but more to do with not having slept in nearly two years --- thanks baby). Instead, I've donated whenever people have come asking. So far, we've given to St. Jude's Children's hospital, to a friend's pet's surgery (not deductible, but nice), to a friend's adoption fund (also not deductible), to my son's school for their art program (is deductible!), to my son's old school (items I made, time & some money and is deductible), provided meals for needy relative (not deductible).
When we had auto-pay going to the church we donated a lot more money than we have this year. I've been meaning to do more this year. This tells me that if I make the decision to give and then make it a hard & fast part of the budget, we give and it works (and we feel pretty good about it). If I wait until we feel like we have enough to give, we don't give very much at all, and I dislike that. I don't want to be selfish and I don't want to become miserly. If I don't have a giving spirit, then what good will millions of dollars do for me anyway?
I ran a tax simulator to see how we stand on our taxes for this year, and unless we increase our giving, we won't be able to itemize. Basically, if we donate another $2500 to charity (on top of what we've already given this year), then we could reduce our effective tax rate from 8.9% down to 5.6%. That isn't the only reason to give, but it does make me think I'd rather give money to causes I care about than to the government. Giving both time and money is good for the soul.