When people give money to a charity, they give it with the hope that their donation will go toward whatever cause the charity represents, whether it be cancer research, global health care and/or relief efforts, helping war-torn areas, etc. The hope is that the money will actually do some good and the charity is out to do something noble.
Unfortunately, this is not always the case. According to CNN, 4 cancer charities operated by members of the same extended family took $187 million in donations and spent almost none of it on cancer patients or cancer research.