In most jurisdictions, part of the definition of a not-for-profit (of which a charity is a more restricted subset) is that it doesn’t exist for the benefit of the members / shareholders, or a specific person.
So creating a charity / NFP and asking people to pay into it is usually okay, but the purpose of that charity can’t be to enrich you, and it is a separate legal identity (i.e. taking a charity’s funds and giving it to yourself would be embezzling). Many jurisdictions allow for sports clubs to exist as not-for-profits, but they’d generally need to be for the purpose of organising a whole team to practice, compete and so on.
Generally charities can employ people to do work for them and pay them, but (varies by jurisdiction) they generally need to be not paid above a fair market rate for the work they actually do to advance the goals of the charity.
If the goal is to help a legitimate cause, you could also ask them to donate to an existing not-for-profit for the cause.
Disclaimer: IANAL, and anyway all of this would vary by jurisdiction - not legal advice!
In most jurisdictions, part of the definition of a not-for-profit (of which a charity is a more restricted subset) is that it doesn’t exist for the benefit of the members / shareholders, or a specific person.
So creating a charity / NFP and asking people to pay into it is usually okay, but the purpose of that charity can’t be to enrich you, and it is a separate legal identity (i.e. taking a charity’s funds and giving it to yourself would be embezzling). Many jurisdictions allow for sports clubs to exist as not-for-profits, but they’d generally need to be for the purpose of organising a whole team to practice, compete and so on.
Generally charities can employ people to do work for them and pay them, but (varies by jurisdiction) they generally need to be not paid above a fair market rate for the work they actually do to advance the goals of the charity.
If the goal is to help a legitimate cause, you could also ask them to donate to an existing not-for-profit for the cause.
Disclaimer: IANAL, and anyway all of this would vary by jurisdiction - not legal advice!
So then wait. So why not just make a charity, then employ myself as manager or something.
In most countries charities have reporting requirements and rules to follow to stop exactly this method of fraud.
Such a stunt is usually done with a “foundation” instead of a normal charity.
Depending on your legislation, this may indeed become a loophole to receive donations and avoid taxes.