This year the American Red Cross will celebrate 125 years since Clara Barton founded the disaster relief organization. With more than 800 local chapters blanketing the country, the Red Cross has become a mainstay in communities across America.
A vast network of Red Cross volunteers sponsors community blood drives, offers CPR and First Aid instruction, spearheads local emergency preparedness, helps elderly residents and mentors at-risk youth.
When disaster strikes, victims find reassurance when Red Cross volunteers arrive on the scene. From our own neighborhoods to villages around the globe, the Red Cross has emerged as the face of compassion when people face catastrophe.
Charitable, nonprofit organizations such as the Red Cross fulfill an essential role in American society. The federal tax code reflects the importance of these service organizations, by encouraging tax-advantaged contributions by taxpayers and exempting nonprofits from paying taxes on their revenue.
Hardworking Americans respond generously to the noble mission carried out by the Red Cross. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Americans opened their hearts and wallets to donate $1 billion, an unprecedented philanthropic fundraising benchmark following a natural disaster.
Unfortunately, such overwhelming generosity was met with an underwhelming response by the agency’s leadership. Media reports indicated money donated specifically for 9/11 victims perhaps wasn’t being distributed as intended.
As a congressionally chartered organization, I bear responsibility as a federal lawmaker to ensure tax-exempt dollars donated to the Red Cross are appropriately accounted for and they ought to be used as intended.
Charitable patrons would like their donations to get the most bang for the buck. Americans donate for the greater good. By pooling together our resources, we collectively can do the most good for victims displaced by catastrophe, whether by a hurricane, earthquake, wildfire, mudslide or tornado.
After hurricanes devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005, Americans again responded with tremendous generosity by donating hundreds of millions of dollars. It’s a shame the Red Cross leadership did not rise to the occasion. Unlike the heroic efforts put forth by Red Cross volunteers in the aftermath of the disaster, the top dogs at the Red Cross failed their mission. Again.
After conducting oversight work in Congress for 20 years, I see again and again the same warning signals when an agency is in trouble. And trouble is bound to follow when an organization strays from its mission. Just consider the FBI. When leadership put image ahead of its mission, the agency faltered. That’s why I raised the red flag nearly a decade ago and put the FBI on notice to fix its culture.
Since 9/11, I have continued oversight work of the Red Cross
to identify issues that interfere with it accomplishing its mission successfully
. With criticism mounting about its under-performance following the tsunami in Southeast Asia and Gulf Coast hurricanes, I am stepping up my oversight to determine whether its current board and management structure can achieve good governance, fiscal integrity and effective performance.
The Red Cross ought to exceed the highest standards of good governance. If its star should lose its luster, an erosion of public confidence in the entire nonprofit sector could become part of the fall-out. Talk about disaster prevention.
As the Red Cross celebrates 125 years of service, I salute the legions of Red Cross volunteers in communities across America who offer their time and talents to make their communities a better, safer place to live. I appreciate the feedback I have received from scores of volunteers and current and former employees to help improve the organization.
In March I conducted a round table discussion to examine governance issues for non-profit organizations, specifically the Red Cross. We worked to identify core problems, including:
*Top-heavy organizations struggle to lead. With a 50-person board of directors, the Red Cross risks fall-out and turnover. When everyone is in charge, no one is in charge.
*Poor attendance. Habitual absences by members of the board reflect an abdication of responsibility. It undermines the mission of the Red Cross.
*Foxes Running the Hen House. When members of the national board also serve as leaders of local chapters, the captains steering the ship lose credibility to conduct unbiased oversight of its crew.
*Flunking Culture. Red Cross volunteers who have stepped forward to suggest improvements are treated like skunks at a Sunday afternoon picnic. Unresponsive arrogance gets a failing grade in my book. Same grade goes for prioritizing publicity ahead of its core mission.
The Red Cross is under license by the federal government to serve as the lead disaster relief organization for the country. I’m certainly not looking to end this partnership. That’s why I’m working to help the Red Cross get back on track so that it may continue its historic tradition of neighbors helping neighbors in need for generations to come.
But until the Red Cross fixes cultural shortcomings, addresses weaknesses in its governance structure and improves effective performance in the field, my red flag in Congress will remain hoisted.