Why You Should Never Donate To Red Cross
The Red Cross is one of the most well-known charities in the world. Founded in 1863, the charity provides disaster relief, blood donations, food donations, and many other services. Millions of volunteers and donors support the Red Cross every year, along with tens of thousands of employees.
For most people, the Red Cross is the first organization they think of when they want to donate to a charity. However, there’s a dark side to the Red Cross that many donors are unaware of.
In this article, we’ll discuss some of the reasons why you might want to consider donating to another charity as opposed to the Red Cross.
7 reasons why you shouldn’t donate to the Red Cross
1. The Red Cross has been accused of mishandling funds
The Red Cross has been embroiled in a number of scandals over the years.
In 2015, it was revealed that the organization had misspent hundreds of millions of dollars meant for Haiti earthquake relief. Money that was meant to build houses and supply food and medical care was never spent on those things, or was spent on them only partially.
2. The Red Cross has been accused of sexual misconduct
Many employees of the Red Cross have been accused of sexual misconduct over the years.
It was found that between 2015 to 2018, 21 staff members of the Red Cross either resigned or were dismissed over sexual misconduct. These included cases of sexual assault, paying for prostitutes, and inappropriate relationships with vulnerable people.
3. The Red Cross has been accused of being a for-profit organization
Although the Red Cross is technically a non-profit organization, it has been accused of operating like a for-profit business.
According to a report from Dispatch, though the Red Cross claims that most of the money donated to the organization goes to help those in need, it seems that more than half goes to pay employee salaries, benefits, and expenses.
This money is generated by the selling of donated blood, which the Red Cross sells to hospitals and other medical facilities. In that respect, the Red Cross is more like a business than a charity.
4. The Red Cross has been accused of mismanaging blood donations
The FDA has fined the Red Cross millions of dollars multiple times for mismanaging blood donations.
It was found that the blood donation centers were not properly cleaning or sterilizing equipment, which put donors at risk of contracting diseases. And there was a concern that the organization might have been allowing contaminated blood into their supply.
5. The Red Cross has been accused of being slow to respond to disasters
In 2012, following Hurricane Sandy, the Red Cross was criticized for its slow response. Families who had lost everything were waiting for days to receive help from the organization.
And when they did finally get help, it was often inadequate, because as was revealed sometime later, much of the money raised for Sandy relief was not even spent.
6. The Red Cross has been accused of not being transparent
The Red Cross has also been criticized for its lack of transparency. It’s very difficult to track where donated money is actually going and how it’s being spent. For example, there are names for different funds, but it’s not clear what each fund is actually for.
This lack of transparency makes it difficult to hold the organization accountable for its actions, or lack thereof.
7. There are better charities out there
The Red Cross isn’t the only game in town. Not by a long shot. Many other charities do the same work as the Red Cross but without all of the baggage. Some of these include:
- Salvation Army
- Habitat for Humanity
- Doctors Without Borders
- Cancer Research
If you have a particular cause you’re passionate about, there are likely charities doing great work in that area. Do some research and find one that you can trust to make the most of your donation.
Conclusion
Being charitable is a good thing, but you should make sure you’re donating to a worthy cause. It’s important to know where your hard-earned money is going and to make sure it’s going to help those in need.
There’s no doubt in our minds that, at one point, the Red Cross was a worthy charity. Perhaps it still is. But given all of the scandals and accusations in recent years, we believe there are better options out there for your donations.