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What % goes to the needy? Where are your charity $ going?   OLYMPIA (Tuesday, 11-23-99)---With holidays just around the corner, two WA officials suggest you check into exactly where your charitable contributions are going before your kick in some bucks.   Sec. of State Ralph Munro and Atty. Gen. Christine Gregoire today issued figures revealing that--in many cases--less than half or even a third of the money you donate through a commercial fundraiser actually gets to the charity being represented.   The report is released annually at the beginning of the holiday season, the time of year when charitable solicitations--and donations--are most intense.   The report summarizes activities of commercial fundraisers--businesses hired by charitable organizations to solicit donations in WA. By law, commercial fundraisers must register with the Secretary of State and disclose certain financial information, including how much of the money raised actually goes to the client charity.   Commercial fundraisers soliciting in WA state reported raising more than $225 million in charitable donations during their most recent fiscal year. Of that amount, $131.5 million went for fundraising expenses and profit. The remaining $93.5 million was retained by client charities--an average of 41.5 percent.   More than a third of the 80 fundraisers listed in the report provide their charity clients with 20 percent or less of the contributions they collected. Of those, seven provided their clients with ten percent or less, including one whose charity client received less than three percent of the total funds raised.   "It is important that donors make smart decisions and ask questions about where their contributions are going," said Munro, whose office administers Washington's' Charitable Solicitations Act.   It isn't illegal for fundraisers to keep the majority or a large percentage of the dollars donated. And Munro noted that it's up to consumers to make their own judgments about whether they are getting good value for their charitable contributions.   Click q to email a request for a check on a commercial fundraiser or charity. Or call 1-800-332-4483 (TDD 1-888-658-1485). Click q for the Secretary's website. Lookup charities registrations, consumer tips, and statutes governing charitable solicitations. Click q to file a complaint by email about a charitable solication. Or call 1-800-551-4636.