Reply #16: I don't hate it, but I do perceive these problems

[daleo]

1 - Inefficiency. Much of the charity effort has to be plowed back into fund-raising activities.
2 - Profit taking. Related to above, private profit making companies often take 50% or more of the money.
3 - Decisions based on persuasiveness rather than need. It is easy to be persuaded to give to some charities (high cuteness factor), difficult to be persuaded to give to others (low cuteness factor), though the true needs may be exactly opposite.
4 - Unavoidable ignorance. The public is not the best judge of of the most effective use of medical research dollars, but it makes those judgments by default via charity.

Plus, charities are open to the problem of freeloading - people who never give share the social benefits of charity with those who give generously.

Real needs are better addressed through the tax system, which is fairer, more efficient, and has better access to evidence based assessment of need.

All that being said, there is always some room for charity in my books.