One thing I've learned from many so-called "philanthropists" is that hosting charity events can be a great status and money making/saving opportunity for those in the business of it. If you've ever watched a "real housewive of ..." episode, those wacky ladies are constantly hosting charity events and provide a pretty good example of how this works:
1) Get a really good tax accountant and lawyer.
2) Establish a charity (in the U.S. they're called 501(c)(3) organizations and have various laws about how they operate. Dedicate it to "Cancer Research" or "Helping Orphans" or whatever.
3) Set yourself up as the head of the charity, give yourself a respectable, but not over the top salary. This is the "organizational overhead" you often hear about.
4) Recruit a bunch of free volunteers concerned about your cause and host a charity event. Well done theme parties can bring in the most money. Include a donation envelope in case people can't come but still want to "support your cause".
5) Collect money. Make sure you remind everybody that their charitable donations are tax deductions! This will keep them coming. Guilt your friends into coming as well. If you get popular in the charity circuit you can even start charging a "cover charge for the even expenses, recommended donation is...$xxx" or "$xxx per plate" if it's a dinner.
6) Subtract misc expenses for room rental, supplies, cheap gifts for volunteers etc.
7) Take the donated money, subtract a percentage for "organizational overhead"
8) Donate the remainder to your cause or if you have time, spend the money on "donation events" where you get press for doing some kind of community service (advertising).
9) Get your charity to spend money on office equipment, cars, travel expenses etc. Deduct as business expenses.
10) Any left over money is a bonus to you for a job well done (can't show a profit!)
11) rinse and repeat
There actually are good charities out there that do good work, but separating them from this kind of self-service is hard to do.