Not a tax lawyer but I'm pretty sure there are regulations around what it means to be a charitable organization according to the IRS. For instance, I'm fairly

Not a tax lawyer but I'm pretty sure there are regulations around what it means to be a charitable organization according to the IRS. For instance, I'm fairly certain that using the money in a way that provides you a tangible benefit is verboten, as is taking a deduction for a "donation" to said charity that results in a tangible benefit. Whether these things are enforced or violated is another question; but it does not seem reasonable to assume that every such organization operates by fraud, nor that getting rid of all of them would be no loss.