many charities and donations are scams

You do have to be careful. One of the best is UMCOR (United Methodist Committee On Relief). 100% of donations for a specific disaster (for example Haiti hurricane relief) goes to that disaster. No overhead from disaster donations. That's because the church as a whole pays the bills. And they are one of the first in and usually the last out. I saw it first hand. My area was deviated by 8 tornadoes several years ago. UMCOR had people there almost before the all clear signal stopped (my pastor was the one that called them and we housed them). And they were still there over a year later.

Sad so many that are legit skim so much money off the top too so only a small percentage of the donation actually goes to the cause.

Depends if you want to donate to help locals or overseas Charities.
For locals Go to your local soup kitchen and ask how to donate, St Vinnies, American Disabled Veterans.
I do not donate to World Wide Charities because personally I think the Charity takes too large a % of my donation to run the organisation.
Plus there is a higher possibility of corruption ensuing that very little money gets to those in need.

I know, it's so bad I am thinking of starting my own charity.

Better safe than sorry: https://www.charitynavigator.org/

I agree, it’s better to donate your time if you can or donate to local charities that you actually see out in the community making things happen.