The next time you get a fundraising pitch from a charity, you should be able to check a new state Web site to get an indication of how much of your donated money will go to that organization's charitable programs — and how much will go to overhead.

Aiming to bring more openness to the charity sector, the state Attorney General's office yesterday launched a searchable database of charities that solicit money in Hawai'i. So far, more than 400 have registered with the state, and that number eventually is expected to roughly double once word spreads that all such organizations are required to register with the attorney general's office.

The new requirement took effect Jan. 1 as a result of a law legislators passed last year in response to an Advertiser series detailing lax regulation of Hawai'i charities.

The online registry "brings greater transparency to charities and allows Hawai'i donors to make better-informed decisions," said Hugh Jones, the deputy attorney general who pushed for the new registration requirement.

Among the information charities are required to report is what percentage of their contributions go toward fund-raising expenses and what proportion is spent on program services, the actual good deeds done by the organizations.

If the new system gives charities more credibility and donors more confidence, "we're all for that," said Lisa Maruyama, president of the Hawai'i Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations, which initially resisted a registration requirement.

The system can help donors judge how efficient charities are with donations.

Children's Wish Foundation International, for instance, reported that 53 percent of its contributions went to fund-raising expenses, according to the state's database.

Make A Wish Hawai'i, another wish-granting organization, said 3 percent of its contributions went to such expenses.

Before the new system was established, Hawai'i was one of 11 states that did not require charities to register.