Rich I'm on your side here but even a charity event wants to make a "profit" otherwise there's nothing to give to the charity.
I'll define value at a very base level … what do you come away with for your money? Some level of riding is obviously a given (I make no distinction between competetive and non competetive, unless you're elite chances are you're only competing against yourself) but what else do you get? Last week at SITS my £50 got me a camping pitch, number board, toilets and showers. At next months Brecon Beast my £26 will get me a camping pitch, number board, toilets and showers plus T shirt and pasta party … just seems better value.