How does the Red Cross spend donor money? It’s a “trade secret”

[Wilikon]

The Secretive American Red Cross


According to ProPublica in a newly-published article: “Just how badly does the American Red Cross want to keep secret how it raised and spent over $300 million after Hurricane Sandy? The charity has hired a fancy law firm to fight a public request we filed with New York state, arguing that information about its Sandy activities is a ‘trade secret’…As we’ve reported, the Red Cross releases few details about how it spends money after big disasters. That makes it difficult to figure out whether donor dollars are well spent. The Red Cross did give some information about Sandy spending to New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who had been investigating the charity. But the Red Cross declined our request to disclose the details.”

[...]
On May 12, 2010 I reported for CBS News on how 5 major nonprofits, including the American Red Cross, had spent funds intended for Haiti earthquake victims four months after the disaster. I noted that enough aid had been raised to give each displaced family a check for $37,000 but thousands of Haitians were still going hungry and living under flimsy shelters. I learned that, to a large degree, the charities can’t tell anyone with specificity where exactly all the money goes. They can give general figures such as, ‘we’ve given out 10,000 meals’ or ‘we’ve distributed 10,000 bottles of water,’ but I wondered why there wasn’t a spreadsheet that explains how many bottles or meals were shipped to which refugee camp and when. It seems pretty basic. After all, somebody has to know. A lot of the funds that donors intended for “emergency relief” were, in fact, still sitting in funds unspent. Some charity officials privately acknowledged that many charities receiving a giant influx of donations in the wake of a giant disaster are ill-equipped to produce long term recovery programs. They sometimes find themselves frantically trying to figure out how to spend all the money in a responsible way that serves the mission.

http://sharylattkisson.com/the-secretive-american-red-cross/

[Charlie Prime]

Perhaps anyone who gives money to the Red Cross deserves to be fleeced.

[CoolRunnings21]

The majority of Charities are outright scams even major one like the Susan B Coleman Breast Cancer, has siphoned tons of funds.


http://www.cironline.org/reports/part-1-dirty-secrets-worst-charities-4603


Dont get me wrong there are good charities but the majority just line thier pockets. The Red Cross should be ashamed to no other but as long as they live the life of luxury on other peoples donations who gives a shit about some dirty haitans.

[robbyd86]

I've never been a fan of most charities.  I'd rather help by volunteering time, because I can see the impact I'm making.  Sending $30/month to someone in Africa makes me a little skeptical.  I know some of them are good, but a lot of them seem not so good.  I've always thought if I come into a lot of money I would go out into poor countries/villages myself (and a team most likely) and try to make a difference. 

[d-trix]

Their trade secret is how they are able to hide the donation monies they received and make sure their higher ups receive nice fat salaries while doing virtually no good whatsoever.

[CoolRunnings21]

Their trade secret is how they are able to hide the donation monies they received and make sure their higher ups receive nice fat salaries while doing virtually no good whatsoever.

Its the truth its amazing how much money even Goodwill and The Salvation Army make just off peoples donations, then they pay handicap workers less than minimum wage.

http://money.msn.com/now/blog--goodwill-pays-disabled-workers-pennies-an-hour

[DannyElfman]

Their trade secret is how they are able to hide the donation monies they received and make sure their higher ups receive nice fat salaries while doing virtually no good whatsoever.

Its the truth its amazing how much money even Goodwill and The Salvation Army make just off peoples donations, then they pay handicap workers less than minimum wage.

http://money.msn.com/now/blog--goodwill-pays-disabled-workers-pennies-an-hour

These people have literally zero skills and are much less efficient then most workers. These workers are also on disability so they are really saving the government money.

These charities actually spend a much higher percentage of their donations on "their cause" then most other charities do, especially the smaller ones.