Charitable status

For a non-profit organization to have charitable status under the law means that a donation to that organization results in the issue of a tax receipt - that is, a receipt that entitles the donor to a tax deduction in the US. Effectively, citizens of that jurisdiction give up a right to tax some amount on the assumption that the organization acts in their own interests.

Accordingly, organizations with such status fall under much closer scrutiny than those without it.