So give. Are you only doing it for the deductions? If so then it really isn't charity, is it. What it is, is the government (That you hate) is taking the money up front and using it to make some other peoples lifes better, like food, lodging and work. I realize that you don't see it that way and here's a statistic you might want to look up. How much on a percentage basis, of the money given to private charities, actually gets to the people it's intended for, somewhere around 40% is the average. Some are even less. Not many charity organizations can return 70-80% to the recipients. Some, if not most, charity organizations are strictly for the benefit of the greedy administrators, private jets, huge expense accounts, mansions, all are not unusual, A few good ones exist, Red Cross comes to mind.