Charities are nothing more than historical laundering schemes. That said, the IDEA behind charities is to go after the source not the symptom. (Akon providing a million dollars is treating a symptom and changes only the short term, which elevates his "cred" while providing only extreme temporary relief for a few.) In effect it's a public relations dream. He puts in a million and his brand goes up by 20. Charities in REALITY was to use 10% of their donations towards marketing , in trying to get more people to contribute while pocketing the other 90% under "administration" costs.