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Since the writing of this case, the American Red Cross (ARC) is on record as having conceptually addressed its infrastructure and operational hurdles. However, very few strides have been made to reverse stakeholder perception crisis response time, relief dispatch strategies, and the ethical dilemmas plaguing the organization. Governmental mandates that streamlined the board and that established accounting /reporting parameters have done little to modify the organizations operational culture.
Since 2002, the organization has had seven CEO’s. This high turnover has prompted concern from stakeholders and government officials. Records indicate the organization now has approximately 35,000 employees and its volunteer pools still
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These re-occurring incidents have shaken the confidence of stakeholders and have begun to have an adverse impact on donor perceptions of the integrity and validity of the efforts promoted by ARC (Welch, 2012).
In March 2012, local leaders and the United Way demanded answers from Red Cross Panhandle Chapter regarding the distribution of $282K that was raised from wildfire relief donations. These funds were raised in 2010 and by the time the inquiries began many of the 2010 ARC staff in this chapter had been replaced under the government restructure. As such, new staff found itself in a quandary as it sought to address the questions and accusations being hurled (Welch, 2012). The tangible numbers that were eventually conveyed indicated that of the $282k raised, $119k was actually given to victims and $60K was used to restock inventories. This account still left $103K unaccounted for. The next speculation that surfaced was revolved around why the funds were not distributed for the purpose for which it was collected? A spokesperson for the local ARC chapter communicated that, personally, he [did] not like this [situation] and he acknowledged the top two previous chapter officials made errors. It was noted that these same two officials left the company in May of 2011 for what ARC labeled as “personal reasons”. In response to the local chapter’s inability to provide acceptable disclosures regarding how funds were
“March of Dimes” charity was in news in November ’15, because of an alleged fraud committed by one of its employees named Ms. Karima Manji. Karima Manji has been working with MOD since 2005. She has been handling the portfolio of property manager and used to look after MOD’s non-profit residences. She is alleged to have used “various means” to siphon funds from the charity, including forging invoices and expense claims, and funnelling money into a false March of Dimes bank account. She has been charged with fraud over $5,000, theft over $5,000, possession of property obtained by a crime over $5,000 and presenting a forged document. She also served as the executive director of Kingsmere retirement living in Alliston and has been placed on administrative leave after being charged by Toronto police of allegedly defrauding MOD of $0.8 Mn. Officials at MOD has confirmed of ongoing investigation into the incident and those of Kingsmere retirement living have stated that “Manji’s employment is not linked to her involvement with MOD’s”.
In the scenario given, “Bob” served in many positions within a nonprofit over a three year period of time and he stole $93,000 in a variety of ways. In a small nonprofit this might be a large percentage of their operating expenses. It could have an enormous impact on the nonprofit staying in operation as well as those who are served in the community. First we should address what the organization could have done to detect the theft earlier and areas the organization can prevent fraud. Next we will look at implementing safeguards and checks and balances to prevent future occurrences. And Finally, we will address a public relations campaign that will regain the trust of donors and the community.
Another important concept that Ridgeview is disappointingly failing in is their transparency in being held accountable for their resources, fundraising and financial income and disbursements. Transparency to me
The purpose of this paper is to explore the Red Cross of America. The paper discusses the historical background of the Red Cross along with the current status of the organization. Nevertheless, the study intends to focus on the section 501 (c) (3). The section specifically enlightens the prospects through which the tax exemption may be applied. International Committee of Red Cross (commonly known as Red Cross) was established in 1863 as a non-profit social organization. Red Cross works under the head of The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, which is the world’s largest humanitarian network. Main objective of the Red Cross is to protect life and health, assuage human suffering, and endorse human dignity. Red
The American Red Cross has been the world’s ministering angel, for more than one hundred years, through its remarkable service to all mankind. The formation of the organization is far from a fairytale story that depicts the lives of women who waited to assist wounded individuals. Instead, the women courageously took it upon themselves to go into the war zone to help as many soldiers as they could. The American Red Cross continues to flourish as it rests on the solid structure, which was built upon loving people. Although the American Red Cross has been the answer for a lot of people in distressed situations, there has been a plethora of organizations created that seem to have a corresponding mission. In order for the American Red Cross to continue on a path of longevity, it is essential that the organization continues to improve its structure.
Most all crisis models used today have some historical value and an overwhelming amount of models are available for helpers to utilize, but no one model has been proven or invalidated in overall effectiveness compared to another model; possibly, because they are all so closely structured. However, some type of crisis relief method has been consistently used and perfected throughout history by well-known organizations like the American Red Cross and more recently, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The American Red Cross has proven to be so successful in their humanitarian efforts, the organization spans across the globe and has provided an array of services to assist those in need since 1881. Their humanitarian efforts covered virtually
Strategic planning has become a ubiquitous practice in nonprofit organization 's (NPO’s) (Bryson, 2010). In contrast to for-profit entities, the nonprofit relies heavily on volunteers to fulfill the organizational mission and vision. To be successful in service to clients, the employees, managers, and boards of nonprofits develop strategies to recruit, train and retain a volunteer workforce. The following paper will identify an organization; describe its strategic planning process, and identifying leaders ' roles in the strategic planning process.
In March of 2016, a news outlet reported that The Wounded Warrior Project was not using its money where they were supposed to be. They began investigating this organization in January after the Charity Navigator, showed excessive spending. This organization raised nearly $225 million last year. (Dave Phillips, NY Times para. 2). This crisis is streaming from the fact that they spend an absurd amount of money on events for their employees. One would first think that this money must be helping and changing so many people’s lives, but sadly that is not the case. In 2014 they were celebrating their 10 years of rapid growth as any company would do, but they spend nearly $26 million on conferences and meetings. Since Steven Nardizzi became the
Abstract: This report aims to analyze how the programs and structures of Australian Red Cross can be transformed through sweeping changes covering all aspects and activities of the organization. It explores the intersection of organizational governance, structure, strategy, culture and people in a complex and challenging organization-wide reform process that not only led to the strengthening of the National Society but also increased its capacity to address the needs of vulnerable people. Introduction:
The American Red Cross has stood the test and can prove to be a great organization to transmit resources. It is widespread and just prevalent today than ever (American Economic Review, 1918). However, the
The American Red Cross (ARC) is a humanitarian organization that started in 1881 to provide disaster relief and emergency aid in the United States. Additionally, the organization offers blood collection, processing and distribution services, family links restoration, education programs on disaster preparedness, comfort for military service, and health and safety programs among others. The organization has approximately 30,000 employees and 500,000 volunteers throughout the whole United States. The American Red Cross does not provide its humanitarian services in the United States only; rather, it has expanded its services to the international community (“Red Cross”).
The key ethical issues include irresponsible and untruthful monetary donation management, miscommunication, mismanagement of money and volunteers, and the insufficient capacity to receive donations. Therefore, ethical questions that have been posed include whether or not ARC can be trusted with donations as they lacked the capacity for online donations during and 9/11 but decided to still solicit these donations. In addition, ARC attempted to divert over $543 million dollars that were designated for 9/11, and Americans donated specifically for 9/11 victims, toward the ARC War Fund, which supposedly was done to prepare for future use of WMD (Brody, 2001). Other ethical issues occurred during Hurricane Katrina as well as during the earthquake
Smith and Richard (2007) examined the fact that nonprofit organizations were analyzed and held accountable for their actions revealing that these organizations did not use charitable dollars efficiently as possible advancing their charitable mission. The United Way, William Aramony scandal and more recently, Oral Suer, former chief executive of United Way, was sent to prison for 27 months for his unethical role. All of this may have been an awakening for this analyzed investigation. With these types of behavior, there was a need to examine and adhere to accountability within nonprofit
The general argument made by Sean Illing in his work, “Veteran reporter: Why you shouldn’t donate to the Red Cross after disasters”, is how Red Cross is untrustworthy and a “dysfunctional organization”. More specifically, Illing argues that “Red Cross leadership has misled Congress[,] resisted oversight[,] don’t open their books[, are] not transparent[,] only release details after they’re publicly shamed[,] [make] $2.6 billion [annually, no way to spend it, and] get away with it”. The association “[sees] disasters as [charity opportunities], and as unavoidable acts of God...They’re better at short-term relief[, for example, single house fires]. He writes, suggesting that one donates straight to the local victims instead: “we [should] worry
December, 3rd, 1999, there was a fire Worcester, Massachusetts; that would ultimately change the fire service as they know it. The fire went from bad to worse, after the first alarm that went off, five more went as well; sending additional fire fighters out. Two firefighters from Rescue 1 who were first on scene got lost during the search when they were looking for two homeless people and for any fire extension. After more responders were dispatched to the scene two crew members from Ladder 2 and two other fire fighters from Engine 3, went in looking for the fire fighters that went missing and the two homeless people on the initial search. While they were in the fire