The important distinction is that you cant spend those non-profit funds the same way you could cash in your pocket.
It is under your control, but you can't use it to buy a Hawaiian island vacation home.
It is under your control, but you can't use it to buy a Hawaiian island vacation home.
At that point it comes down to regulators’ appetite and ability to enforce, and of course the worst cast is some fines. As long as the EV of fines for inappropriate spending that is caught is less than the tax savings from both caught and uncaught abuses, I’m still ahead.
But really I don’t think the abuses are that overt anyway; Elon can buy his own Hawaii property. These things are usually more funds to hire friends and family and engage in political/social spending at lower effective costs.
Or are we talking about the charity workers themselves living it up... like we've seen in those famous recent fancy houses purchases in Canada and UK.
Here's a nice 6 million dollar house bought by a charity:
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/04/black-lives-matter-6...
And a nicer 8 million dollar house bought by the same charity (all cash, must be nice)
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/fairnes...
you see stories like this in the news fairly often, this is just two recent examples.
My point was simple, someone said charities cant buy houses, but they in fact can and do.
Maybe I wasn't clear, but my point what that charities cant legally operate for the sole benefit of the donor.
I used buying a vacation home as example of this. A charity cant do that legally. A shady charity might buy a headquarters as a pretext an use it as a vacation home.
I know for my self, I don't really care when I donate 1-2 $/eur. I don't think that in "value" terms because amount is so small and often I don't question too much (or investigate) where the money goes. But if I donate $500 then I try to gather as much information as I can about the organization, people involved, previous projects etc. I can imagine this feeling (having control) would only be amplified if I tried to donate millions of dollars.
If I'm gay and donate to an LGBT rights charity, I would love to see direct benefit.
If I play sports and donate to my nonprofit Club, I also hope to see direct benefits.
Charitable donation by definition is donating to things that Advance your priorities. Those might be a world with less hunger, saving lives, or whatever. Nobody donates to charities that work against their priorities.