A beneficiary designation takes percentages. You can leave 80% to your children and 20% to a church, a school, or a food bank, and the carrier will cut two sets of checks. It costs nothing to set up, it takes one form, and it doesn't require an attorney.
Why do it on the policy rather than in a will. Three reasons. The beneficiary form pays directly and skips probate, so the charity has the money in weeks instead of after an estate closes. The form is easy to change and a bequest in a will is not. So an organization you care about at 50 and don't at 65 is a two-minute fix. And a death benefit left to a qualified charity is deductible against your estate, which matters if the estate is near a taxable threshold, federal or state.
There's a version with more leverage in it. Instead of carving up an existing policy, some people buy a policy specifically to replace what they're giving away. Leave the traditional retirement account to the charity, which pays no income tax on it, and leave the kids a death benefit, which comes to them income tax free. That flips the usual outcome. Normally the kids inherit an IRA and pay ordinary income tax on every dollar as they empty it, while the charity receives an asset it would have gotten tax free either way.
Filling out the form right takes more than typing a name. Charities merge, rename themselves, and run multiple legal entities. Use the organization's full legal name and its federal tax ID number, and call the charity's development office to get both. "The Red Cross" is not a legal entity. Use percentages rather than dollar amounts. A fixed dollar amount can end up being most of the policy if the death benefit shrinks. It can fail outright if it turns out to exceed what's left. And if a policy loan is outstanding at death, it comes off the top before the percentages get applied, so everybody's share shrinks proportionally.
Tell your family. A charity showing up on a beneficiary form nobody knew about is how families end up angry at a nonprofit. If you're giving away a piece of what the kids were expecting, say so while you're alive and say why. Your family needs to know this policy exists makes the same argument about the policy itself.
Two variations to ask about. You can name the charity as owner of the policy rather than just beneficiary. That makes the premiums you pay a current income tax deduction, and it takes the policy out of your estate entirely. You give up control permanently, so that's a decision rather than a designation. Or you can name a donor advised fund as beneficiary, which lets your kids direct the giving after you're gone instead of locking in one organization for good.
I'm a licensed insurance broker and not a CPA or an attorney. The deduction rules for charitable gifts of life insurance are specific. A charity-owned policy in particular needs your accountant and the charity's counsel involved before anything gets signed. The split-beneficiary version is the one you can handle this week. Log into the carrier's portal, see whether the form accepts percentages and a tax ID, and if it doesn't, ask them to mail you the paper form.