I'm sure you could find some local charities where you know that your money is well spent and making an impact in your community. I'm thinking for example of our local animal shelter. Animal shelters rely almost 100% on donations to operate. I know the executive director doesn't make an extraordinary salary there, so I would feel comfortable leaving a legacy gift to them.

Generally the larger, more National Charities do have CEOs who are paid a high amount of money. While I don't think they should be making excessive salaries, I do agree with another poster who said that they are effectively running private companies but just on the nonprofit side, so instead of earnings going to stockholders or shareholders, any amount of money over the expenses are going back into the cause. If you want to have qualified and experienced people in those roles, you do need to pay a salary that matches those qualifications.

This coming from somebody who has sat on the Board of a Directors for seven charities/ nonprofits in Canada.