How reliable is earmarking of charity aid?

"Shortly after the disaster struck, Jack Siegel, a tax lawyer who is developing software to help charities improve their governance, analyzed a list of relief organizations in The New York Times to determine which gave donors a chance to earmark their contributions for the aid effort. He posted his findings on his Web site, http://charitygovernance.blogs.com . Four of the 14 charities he surveyed offered a clear method for earmarking gifts for tsunami relief efforts, he said. The rest were more ambiguous, and Mr. Siegel's Web log advised donors to take care in making their choices."
- from today's NYTimes

As the ability of charitable agencies to effectively earmark their funds is NOT CONSISTENLY GOOD, CHECK THE CHARITY REVIEW AND CONTRIBUTE ACCORDINGLY...