October is here and along with it comes one of the biggest fundraising blitzes for breast cancer charities.

Designated as Breast Cancer Awareness Month and signified by a pink ribbon, the month in recent years has become hugely commercialized with everyone from the NFL to food manufacturers taking notice.

This post will go over some of the highest rated cancer charities as well as one local Quad City charity for women both in Iowa and Illinois looking for information on breast cancer resources.

Choosing a charity to donate your money to can be hard, the concern if your money is being spent wisely or given to large administration salaries is a valid one, so what can you do to make sure the charities you donate to are heading in the right direction?

Charity Navigator, a non-profit that looks at the financial reporting of charities and their transparency has rated breast cancer charities in few areas, namely breast cancer research, breast cancer support and breast cancer public awareness. Below is a list of some rated charities from Charity Navigator and a brief description of what they do.

• Living Beyond Breast Cancer (4-star) — a breast cancer education and public awareness charity focused on finding support for a range of people including those recently diagnosed, in treatment, or in survivorship. They received a score of 99.7 from Charity Navigator, the highest awarded and around 84% of their expenses go to services and programs related to breast cancer awareness/education.
• Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation (4-star) — a California based research foundation that aims to do research looking at the causes of breast cancer. Their key projects include long-term international studies of populations, advanced imaging and analysis of breast ducts, and providing information on their research via educational materials.
• Susan G. Komen for the Cure (3-star) — One of the most well known breast cancer charities, their aim is to provide funding locally for breast health. The Quad Cities branch of the charity serves both Iowa and Illinois and provides local grants for mammograms and other health services.

Are you running a race for charity or have another charity not listed you donate to? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook what you plan on doing during breast cancer awareness month.