Yes that is definitionally cynical and also factually inaccurate. (U.S.) Non-profits are legally obligated to file public tax returns detailing revenues and expenditures. This represents at least one way that you yourself can vet charities. Unless you think a large portion of charities are successfully defrauding the IRS and/or colluding with third-party charity watchdogs the odds of a given charity being an outright scam are low. There is a question of efficiency and impact, there's always the chance that a corrupt local government will siphon away well-intentioned dollars or that medicine will expire before it can be administered; maybe one could make the case that many charities are disappointingly inefficient, but that's very different from saying it's completely futile to donate.