Changes in the American Red Cross

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(1)
Changes at the American Red Cross have led to more transparency at the agency. These changes include making public record of its stance on governance and ethics policy. Also, each member of the board of directors is required to sign the Board Member Affirmation of Service, which mandates that each member actively participate a minimum of 15 days per year with the organization, read the Code of Ethics, and comply with the policy. Other changes include the Office of the Ombudsman office its increased usage since its implementation. During fiscal year 2012, there were 833 constituents contacted the office versus 354 in fiscal year 2008 (Ombudsman, 2012). This increase reflects a rise in the number of internal issues as the office continues to raise awareness of its function to ensure impartiality in all concerns for the affairs of the organization.

(2)
The American Red Cross has experienced various issues in regard to the handling of donation money. The lack of effective systems and policies led to many missteps and opportunities for improvement. This essay will focus on the issues in relation to the 9/11 relief donations, Hurricane Katrina donations, and finally organizational appropriation of funds.
First, the organization was hit an unprecedented amount of donations due to the 9/11 attacks. As a result, a separate fund was established in an attempt to track the donations and the expenses for the event. Due to a lack of systems to manage the money, less than half of the funds went to the intended victims. The remaining money was spent of infrastructure improvements within the organization for future tragedies. This angered many donors whose monies did not reach the intended recipients.
Second, Hurricane Katrin...

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...dent ombudsman for ARC, work continues to be needed in regard to standardization of the requirements for transparency amongst not-for-profit organizations that receive government assistance. Similar approaches to the organizational structural in place at ARC need to be utilized at other organizations. The attempt here is not to hinder the progress of the existing institutions but to level the playing field for all of the organizations as they vie for donations money. As the number of organizations increase that operates from donations, there is a limited pool of actual donation money especially in the current economy. The standardization of those organization structures and commitments to transparency can provide more assurance to the donors that their monies will be utilized for its intended purpose and will reach the affected people that need the assistance.

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