[The Best Places to Put Charity]

Answer—and Allah is the Granter of success: The best places for charity differ with times and circumstances. If, in a given time, there is a call to Allah the Exalted, a propagation of the religion, enjoining right and forbidding wrong—then in that case placing charity there is among its best placements and earns the greatest reward.
The proof: His saying, Exalted is He, “The example of those who spend their wealth in the way of Allah is like a seed [of grain] that sprouts seven ears; in every ear are a hundred grains. And Allah multiplies [His reward] for whom He wills.” [al-Baqarah:261] and His saying, Exalted is He, “O you who have believed, shall I guide you to a transaction that will save you from a painful punishment? [It is that] you believe in Allah and His Messenger and strive in the cause of Allah with your wealth and your lives …” [al-Ṣaff:10–11], and other texts in which Allah mentions striving with wealth in His path. If nothing of what we have mentioned is present, then let the giver place his charity upon the parents, then upon relatives, then upon those whom Allah has mentioned in this verse in Sūrat al-Nisāʾ: “Worship Allah and associate nothing with Him, and to parents do good, and to relatives, orphans, the needy, the near neighbor, the distant neighbor, the companion at your side, the wayfarer, and those whom your right hands possess.” [al-Nisāʾ:36]. This pertains to voluntary charity.
Source : Min Thimār al-ʿIlm wa al-Ḥikmah vol.1