ABSTRACT
The American Red Cross was under fire a few months after Hurricane Katrina for spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to boost its public image. The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and the Associated Press revealed that in 2004 and 2005, the Red Cross paid Public Strategies, a Houston corporate image, to brand chief executive officer Marsha Evans as the face of the Red Cross. The consultants were to secure at least two “media opportunities” per month for Evans and were to book her for public appearances before influential groups. As the campaign continued, said the sources, the Red Cross was laying off workers in the blood-services operations. In its Washington, D.C. headquarters, employees’ merit pay was eliminated and travel was limited. A Red Cross spokesperson aid the consultants were instrumental in boosting donations when it booked appearances. Evans had resigned about two months before the charges were made, citing differences with the 50-member Board of Governors. During the same years, the organization paid nearly $114,000 to reach producers who would use the name of the charity in commercial television and film. Harvard University lecturer Peter Dobkin Hall, a specialist on non-profits, said the expenditure was not necessary. He said, “When disaster happens, people turn to the Red Cross and throw money at them!” The world’s largest charity was also charged with mismanagement of funds after the September 11 attacks. Then CEO Bernardine Healy resigned and the organization was warned to resolve its internal problem. A board member, in 2001, warned Red Cross chairman David McLaughlin to resolve the group’s disputes and said, “The worst things we could do is to gloss over the split on the board…and see the whole scenario repeated 3 or 4 years from now. As her predicted, four years later, Hurricane Katrina hit and another CEO resigned.
