Are you detecting a tone of desperation in the charitable appeals you're receiving this holiday season?

It wouldn't be surprising, said John Kobara, chief operating officer of the California Community Foundation, a Los Angeles nonprofit that helps large donors direct some $350 million in charitable donations. The recession significantly cut charitable giving last year, and all indications are that this year will be worse.

Roughly half of all charitable contributions are made during the final quarter of the year, so this holiday season may be make-or-break for many small charitable organizations, he added.

"I wish I had good news, but it's pretty dire out there," Kobara said. "The final quarter of the year is pivotal for nonprofits. It keeps their doors open through March."

Since the recession has also wreaked havoc with many consumers' balance sheets, experts are not polishing up the age-old advice to "give generously." Instead, they say that this may be the year to figure out how to get the biggest possible bang out of your charitable buck. Here's what they suggest:

FOCUS

"Pick a cause that's dear to you, and put all your eggs in one basket," suggested Eileen Heisman, president and chief executive of the National Philanthropic Trust, a national charity that manages donor-advised funds. "If you are really short this year, give as much as you can to just one place."

Giving a lot to a few groups is vastly more efficient for both the charity and you, said Ken Berger, president of Charity Navigator, a Web-based philanthropic rating service.

If you give 10 gifts of $50 each, you'll need 10 stamps, and your money will be processed by 10 organizations. If, on the other hand, you give two checks for $250 each, you've spent the same amount, and more of your money is going to the projects you want to finance, rather than to processing your check and thanking you for your donation, he said.

Berger doesn't suggest you limit yourself to a single cause because he says that most people have two -- their church and a favorite charity. But, if you limit yourself to those two, you can have a bigger effect.

REFLECT

Limiting yourself to just a cause or two makes it important that you've thought a lot about the cause, Heisman added.

There are hundreds of thousands of charities nationwide. Many donors have a hard time sorting through it all to focus on just one or two. But it becomes easier if you spend a few minutes thinking about what you're trying to do with your donated dollars.