I wanted to enlarge my comment, but thought it better to wait.

Anyways, my understanding of history is that the plethora of private charities prior to 1950 were ineffective in any meaningful social reform. The donors wanted to bend the world to the way they thought it should work. But they had a very poor understanding of poverty and its effects.

Only when governments started "collectivizing" the charities did we get some progress.

Canada has a robust social welfare system. Each province has its own main agency, supported by other provincial agencies. It's hard to imagine this system being run by 200 wealthy men.