"For a non-profit organization of its size, the federal government is surprisingly efficient. Most federal employees work in big box-like office buildings, not in $300 million monuments to an architect's ego." [http://philip.greenspun.com/materialism/early-retirement/]

(Just an interesting tid-bit. I mostly agree with your comment. Though I doubt all charity are as efficient as the Melinda-and-Bill-Gates-type.)