American Red Cross

The mission statement simply states, that the American Red Cross, is a humanitarian organization led by volunteers and guided by its Congressional Charter and the Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross Movement. It was created to provide relief to victims of disaster and help people prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies. The American Red Cross is a non profit organization founded in 1881 by Clara Barton to aid victims of fires, floods, and hurricanes. This charity, though they are congressionally chartered, does not receive federal funding. The main source of financial support is provided from the donations of many philanthropic organizations, people and corporations. Ninety-one cents from every dollar donated goes to humanitarian services and programs. Branches are located across the U.S. and internationally that provide relief to people suffering from the aftermath of disasters and war.

Its human resources come predominately from volunteers willing to travel to disasters and offer assistance and to aid families searching for information on loved ones missing in time of disaster and abroad.

"Today, in addition to domestic disaster relief, the American Red Cross offers compassionate services in five other areas: community services that help the needy; support and comfort for military members and their families; the collection, processing and distribution of lifesaving blood and blood products; educational programs that promote health and safety; and international relief and development programs."

The Red Cross is governed by a board of governors. The board consists of eighteen members located across the United States. They are or have been CEO'sof major corporations and organizations. There are also eight committees: Audit and Risk Management Committee, Quality and Regulatory Compliance Subcommittee, Board of Trustees of the Endowment Fund, Compensation and Management Development Committee, Executive Committee, Governance and Board Development Committee, Investment Committee, Philanthropy Committee.

Because it is congressionally chartered their audit, conducted by an outside firm, must also be reviewed by the Department of the Army. The audit for fiscal year 2010 shows that the Red Cross made significant progress in improving their financial stability. This was achieved by building a more cost conscious culture that resulted in decreased office costs in chapters, biomedical units and at the national headquarters.

The future goals of the Red Cross are to achieving financial stability, strengthening fundraising, revitalizing the Red Cross brand, advancing blood safety, improving teamwork and revamping our IT systems. A SWOT analysis of this organization would identify areas that are least cost effective or revenue generating. The strengths already in place and opportunities of the future can be used to address the areas that will help reach the goals of the organization.

This analysis shows that if the Red Cross uses the name recognition they already have in print and advertising media it will strengthen not only donations but increase its volunteer base as well. The Red Cross has also begun using the evolving technological resources provided by social networking and wireless communications to make volunteering and donation more efficient. "Results show that practicing public relations through social media is effective and necessary in the emerging digital age, as shown through the Red Cross' development of a two-way dialogue with younger constituents, the media, and the community. This two-way dialogue has been accomplished primarily through Twitter and Facebook, with barriers such as lack of staff and time, and opportunities to improve National Headquarters and local chapter relations." The insights shared by the American Red Cross are useful for both public relations scholars and professionals to help them understand and apply social media practices to build strong, lasting relationships. These tools can also help improve and continue to strengthen the management of disasters in real time. This would justify revamping the IT systems. Building a communication network between the local chapters and the national headquarters would improve the ability to relay real time information regarding the need in the event of disaster and to improve the quality of service it provides as related to the blood donation efforts. This was a noted difficulty when the Red Cross had to respond to the aftermath of Katrina. The workers that were at the disaster had difficulty getting the much needed supplies and medical help to the victims. This could have been improved with improved telecommunications equipment and wireless networking devices.

The threat of economic uncertainty could be offset by the ability to provide government supported tax relief for monetary and material donations. Providing special financial benefits such as tax credit or reduction for major philanthropic funding would help to secure a continuous source of revenue in difficult times. This would also help prepare the Red Cross in the event of multiple disasters that would have the potential to deplete supplies and volunteer resources.

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