We do this at our Church. We did a huge amount of research before committing ourselves to a scheme and decided on the Leprosy Mission.
http://www.leprosymis...ls.aspx?Country=Niger
My one of choice is Wateraid 2sp. I help through a contact at the Met office. I have also contributed through Save the Children by having cash donations instead of birthday gifts to go towards the building of a village well. They can be a bit sniffy sometimes about donors saying how they want their donation used though.