RED CROSS

[Flyingriki]

I'd heard bits and pieces of this story over the years, particularly after the Haiti nightmare where so many including a major American political family, took advantage of the catastrophe to enrich themselves. This guy was there and paid attention:

Don’t give money to the Red Cross. We need a new way.

[zeehag]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNKi...&feature=share

[brazenarticle]

The American Red Cross is rated pretty highly by Charity Navigator, Charity Watch and the Better Business Bureau ( give.org). Average rating appears to be B+ and according to Charity watch 90 cents of every dollar is spent on programs and services it delivers.
As a non profit they file a 990, you can look at 2016 and previous years tax returns online.

If you don't like what you see vote with your checkbook and put your charity dollars somewhere else.

[dannc]

Originally Posted by brazenarticle

The American Red Cross is rated pretty highly by Charity Navigator, Charity Watch and the Better Business Bureau ( give.org). Average rating appears to be B+ and according to Charity watch 90 cents of every dollar is spent on programs and services it delivers.
As a non profit they file a 990, you can look at 2016 and previous years tax returns online.

If you don't like what you see vote with your checkbook and put your charity dollars somewhere else.

Exactly, and there are plenty of organizations that get A- and A+ ratings. I am on another website talking about charities and people who had been victims of disasters, or helped out after disasters, do not have much good things to say about the American Red Cross.

Personally, I have seen them passing out food immediately after one hurricane, but a week or so later, they were not around. There were other groups on scene as the water was peaking and those groups were still there a few weeks later when the recovery started. The Red Cross was no where to be seen.

Another thing to check out with these charity organizations is how much money they pay the CEO.

Later,
Dan

[DeepFrz]

Personally, I have seen them passing out food immediately after one hurricane, but a week or so later, they were not around. There were other groups on scene as the water was peaking and those groups were still there a few weeks later when the recovery started. The Red Cross was no where to be seen.

Maybe they weren't needed so much after the other organizations got there. How many people would have died had they not been there quickly? I really don't know but they seem to do a pretty good job in Canada.

[brazenarticle]

Originally Posted by dannc

Exactly, and there are plenty of organizations that get A- and A+ ratings.....

If you have a suggestion for an A-, A or A+ rated national or international disaster relief organization please share.

[dannc]

Originally Posted by DeepFrz

Maybe they weren't needed so much after the other organizations got there. How many people would have died had they not been there quickly? I really don't know but they seem to do a pretty good job in Canada.

None.

The Red Cross was passing out pasta from a truck. They were not rescuing anyone. There was a National Guard mess unit with hot food in the area as well as other volunteer organizations with food and clothing. After the immediate flooding, those volunteer organizations were still there working.

The American Red Cross has multiple people making $500,000+ a year. There are plenty of other organizations that have better ratings and managers earning far less.

Use the charity sites listed previously to check out the organizations before giving money.

Later,
Dan

[zeehag]

Originally Posted by brazenarticle

The American Red Cross is rated pretty highly by Charity Navigator, Charity Watch and the Better Business Bureau ( give.org). Average rating appears to be B+ and according to Charity watch 90 cents of every dollar is spent on programs and services it delivers.
As a non profit they file a 990, you can look at 2016 and previous years tax returns online.

If you don't like what you see vote with your checkbook and put your charity dollars somewhere else.

those are agencies that rate BUSINESSES. yes red cross is a BUSINESS not a charity.
10 cents on the dollar goes MAYBE to those in dire need the rest goes into administering the behemoth out of control administration. salaries is most of it. united way is exact same. as if they were from clinton foundation all take no give 10 cents on a dollar goes into those in dire need. ceo is richer than croesis
this has been same since 1960s when i first learned about htis stuff.
as for taking care of those in dire need, if you really want your time and dollars to count-=get there and it in person. now we have many more than merely florida in trouble. we have virgins leewards and florida also. and teejass is still a mess.
want your dough to count?? donot send it to red cross.
wanna make a difference?? go get it done in person. there are many islands in trouble and 2 states.

[Flyingriki]

My Dad said in WWII the Red Cross charged the military for coffee and doughnuts....


The Red Cross also declined repeatedly to disclose details on how exactly money was spent in Haiti and instead provided only broad categories of expenditures, despite a pledge by CEO Gail McGovern that her agency would "lead the effort in transparency," the news report said. (sound familiar?)


[The Red Cross had $500 million in Haitian relief money, but it built just 6 houses]
In recent days, her post has been shared thousands of times — in part, she believes, because it tapped into a growing consensus among Haitians and Haitian Americans that the American Red Cross can no longer be trusted to effectively manage humanitarian efforts in the Caribbean nation.
Those feelings have been bolstered by a widely circulated investigation by NPR and ProPublica, which found that the Red Cross grossly mismanaged its response to Haiti's 2010 earthquake, one of the worst natural disasters in the history of the Western Hemisphere.

[hafa]

ARC's primary mission is immediate on-the-ground assistance after a natural disaster. They are highly effective in this mission.

In terms of transparency, they are better than most, but I have to question the $500k annual salary of the CEO. I do not agree with the rationale of competitive qualifications; there are more than enough individuals more than capable of fulfilling this role who are willing to accept compensation that is more inline with that accepted by the bulk of the staff.

[hellosailor]

Griki-
You repeat a common error when you point to "the Red Cross".

THERE IS NO SUCH AGENCY.

There is an International Red Cross, the folks who send care packages to war prisioners and do other missions.

And there are many many "national" affiliates, such as The American Red Cross, who are set up in the US. But the American Red Cross (ARC) is also not the organization most Americans deal with. The ARC is almost like a franchise operation: You have the ARC in a national role, but then you have "The American Red Cross of Miami" or "The American Red Cross of New York" and each of those is a semi-independent CHAPTER of the ARC.

If one chapter is corrupt, or an executive in one chapter is corrupt, that's an isolated and local problem. You can't paint them all with the same brush. Yes, it would be nice if the national organization (is there one in Haiti?) could rule with an iron fist...but it doesn't work that way.

The ARC did make extensive changes following scandals around 2000, and in fact they lost nearly half of their volunteers during the change to new "background checks" which involved a sweetheart deal with a data mining company claiming to be a background verification company.

But then again, the ARC is mandated by the US Congress to do a certain job in a certain way.

The picture is way more complicated than just some generic "Red Cross" and the people who might be a part of it.

Go to someplace like "CharityNavigator.org" and you can be amazed at how much is consumed in overhead at each "charity". But then you can argue, if a CEO is being paid $300,000 annually...but brings in 20% more than their predecessor did...are they being paid too much? Or just market value?

The ARC, and the International RC, aren't much different from the rest.

[CaptTom]

Good discussion. I think it's too easy to dump on any large organization by pointing out individual flaws. I know the company I worked for was very well-run overall, but they did some really STUPID stuff at the deck plate level.

The Red Cross does seem to be there in times of need, and they offer classes like CPR, so I'm not ready to write them off yet.

On the other hand, lots of charities spend WAY too much (IMHO) on advertising, soliciting and administration.

My personal beef is the organizations that convince me to give $20-$50, then spend twice that in glossy mailings, trying to get me to give more.

My recommendation is to research the organizations, then give anonymously.

[dannc]

Originally Posted by brazenarticle

If you have a suggestion for an A-, A or A+ rated national or international disaster relief organization please share.

I still have not decided is the short, quick answer but I will say who I am considering after I explain why.

I have gone to help out after Hurricane Floyd flooded a good portion of eastern NC as well as a "small" tornado that killed two people and destroyed three/four homes and damaged a few others. One of the people killed was related to a coworker.

For Floyd, I and my group were out looking for dead bodies and looters as the water cresting in some areas and down to ok levels in others. Thankfully, we did not find bodies or looters though there was radio traffic concerning both. In some places, we were the first people to get into the areas.

As mentioned previously, in one small town the Red Cross was there passing out pasta from a truck. It certainly was appreciated by the few survivors that were there. There was a National Guard mess unit on the scene providing food but they and the Red Cross were gone a week or two later when I went back to help clean up.

However, already in the town, was a group of Mennonites setting up a warehouse of food and clothes. I can't remember if the Baptists were there yet but when I returned a week or so later, the Baptists were there in force and the Mennonites were still there working. I have NO idea where the heck those Mennonites came from but I did learn later there are some communities in the NC moutains.

Many of the houses that are flooded are not total losses. EVERYTHING in the house that was touched by water has to be thrown out, the walls and floors stripped down to the studs and joists, electrical systems taken out, let the place dry out and then rebuilt.

One of the hardest things to do is simply getting the contents of the house OUT. Our tax dollars will pay to clean up the contents and debris BUT IT HAS TO GET TO THE CURB. Some houses can be hundreds of feet to the curb but getting a fridge filled with rotting food, and heavy with water soaked insulation, is DISGUSTING work.

This work is hard to do if it is YOUR stuff, especially, if you are up in age and that stuff represents a lifetime of work, effort and living. Some people simply cannot physically move this stuff. They need help.

This is what volunteers like myself and other did. The Baptists and Mennonites where down there for the long haul. The Baptists had a tractor trailer out fitted with a kitchen, showers, and toilets. They would take the tractor trailer into a disaster area, park next to a church they could use as a place to rest and send out work teams. Both groups were sending people out to clean out the houses, then another team would go in and rip the floors and walls down to the studs and joists to air out and eventually rebuild.

ALL OF THIS WAS DONE BY VOLUNTEERS none of whom where being paid. I did see some homeowner paying to have this done but it was too soon for insurance payouts so they were using their own resources.

The tornado cleanup I work in was similar except the work was being done by local volunteers who knew the victims/survivors. However, a local church was preparing to receive a bus load or two of volunteers from VA to help with the clean up.

Based on what I have seen and done, I am looking at faith based organizations to donate my money too. I have seen them work and do much with nothing. Looking at the websites that rate charities they seem to do a far better job and spend the money more wisely. I see no justification for any charity paying manager salaries around and over $500,000. I, and many others I know, have spent decades volunteering to help people, earning no money, and certainly costing us out of pocket, to have any respect for someone in a charity making that kind of salary.

It is a shame that one has to worry if your charity money will be spent correctly/wisely.... <sigh>

I am looking at the Salvation Army, United Methodist Committee on Relief, and Baptists on Mission. The later group might have been the people who had the tractor trailer. They have a website but I can't find them on the charity review/rating sites. Can't find anything about the Mennonites I saw working.

Later,
Dan

[a64pilot]

Dan said it better than I could, that if making sure that all your money you gave goes directly to victims, faith based organizations are often the best.
However there are a lot of crooks there too, watch TV for an example.
Creeflo Dollar comes to mind, so be careful

[meatservo]

I would not give a dime to the red cross.
I made a donation to Samaritan's Purse. 100% goes to victims.

I will also donate to The Salvation Army. I believe that they are 80% effective but can't confirm this.

I will also donate to Branson for the BVI's, I would trust him to do the right thing.



meatservo