The men and women who serve our country play a more important role than many of us realize and can ever truly understand. Many of the freedoms and rights that we enjoy today are a direct result of the work they have done for our country.

But when these soldiers return home, the financial, physical, and emotional aid they need isn’t always available. For this reason, many people have set up charities nation-wide. These charities are created to help veterans when they return home, and ensure that they get the help they need.

When looking at charities, however, it is important to be careful and to look at the charities over carefully. While these charities give money or other types of aid to veterans, some charities spend a large chunk of the money they receive on their administrative costs.

The best way to investigate charities is by looking them up on charity review websites like Charity Navigator. Using these websites, you can look up individual charities and see their ratings, mission, goals, and even take a look at their financials. Using these charity review websites will allow you to see clearly where most of the income is going, and give you an idea of what exactly the charity is doing.

Also, be on the lookout for any given charity’s transparency. If the charity you’re looking at isn’t providing information on their financials, their goals, or their progress, that’s a red flag that you shouldn’t donate to that charity, or seek out its help. Charities should be forthcoming about what they’re doing and how they’re using your money. If they’re not, then that’s a sign they might not be doing what they say they’re doing.

Some examples of good charities that support veterans include Hope for Warrior. This charity was founded by military wives in 2006. They hold an overall four-star rating on Charity Navigator, which is the highest star rating available on the website. They are committed to providing services that help increase the quality of life for post 9/11 veterans who have sustained physical or psychological wounds. They have comprehensive support plans that focus on helping these veterans transition into normal and healthy day to day lives.

Another great charity for veterans is Puppies Behind Bars. This is another highly-rated organization on Charity Navigator, with a four-star rating. This organization provides service dogs that are trained by prison inmates. The inmates live with the puppies for about two years, during which time the inmates learn how to train the puppies to be service dogs. Once the training period is done, the puppies are sent to veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq.

Homes for Our Troops is a charity that helps provide housing for veterans. They focus on veterans with severe injuries and work to build and provide mortgage-free and accessible housing for veterans who have had to have multiple amputations, or who received traumatic brain injuries during the time they served. They also work to adapt existing homes so that they are accessible for troops who come home with accessibility issues. They are another highly-rated charity on Charity Navigator, with a 100% transparency and accountability score.

So now that we’ve covered a couple of highly rated and trustworthy charities, what is the charity that gives the most to veterans? This is a difficult question to answer, but Fisher House Foundation is a charity which boasts an overall four-star rating on Charity Navigator and spends 92.7% of their financial earnings on the services and programs it promises. They provide comfortable homes for the families of veterans while their family member receives the necessary treatment. What’s more, they provide these homes for free, and the homes are always close to the medical center where the serviceman is being treated.

Giving back to the soldiers who served our country is an incredibly worthwhile cause. It’s important, however, to look into charities before donating to them, as many of them spend a large portion of their funds for internal purposes. Always look charities up on trusted charity review sites, like Charity Navigator, and check for the percentage of funds they spend on their administrative costs versus the amount they spend on the services they provide.

Hope for Warrior, Puppies Behind Bars, Homes for Our Troops, and Fisher House Foundation are all amazing charities that give back to veterans and their families in incredible ways. If you have the funds to spare, it’s worth looking into giving to any of these charities. When do donate, you’ll know that you’re helping to provide life-changing support to the country’s troops.