The American Red Cross Google Group

Re: Is The Red Cross Effective?

2008-02-02T22:29:39Z

Hi Ike and Maura,
I think (hope) I can clarify a little based on a recent post I had in
a blog:
I completely agree that there is no universal metric: Teaching a child
to read is important. Giving a pregnant mother nutritional supplements
to avoid premature childbirth is important. Providing disaster relief

Re: Is The Red Cross Effective?

2008-01-02T00:12:55Z

Sean, this is a great topic for debate. You've probably checked out
GiveWell.net, which studies charities in particular fields and ranks
them on their effectiveness. Founded by two hedge-fund analysts,
GiveWell applies business techniques in evaluating the nonprofits
within specific categories. But the question of whether one should

Re: Is The Red Cross Effective?

2007-12-27T16:28:31Z

Thanks so much for jumping into the conversation. I'm not asking you
to choose anything. I'm just asking how the Red Cross tracks whether
you're doing a good job.

For example, at my firm, Ensemble Capital Management we look at hard
numbers like revenue growth, assets under management and assets per

Re: Is The Red Cross Effective?

2007-12-26T15:36:18Z

Hello -- this is Ike, and I am a regional communicator for the Red
Cross. I stumbled across this over the holiday break.
I understand what you are talking about, with regards to our internal
measure of "effectiveness." Unfortunately, you're asking us the
equivalent of choosing a favorite child.
Such a metric would be arbitrary, and could be easily fashioned to

Re: Is The Red Cross Effective?

2007-12-17T16:56:02Z

Yes, your missions are all different. But I'm not asking you to
compare yourself to other charities. I like the way Dave put it above:

"How do you judge and measure your effectiveness? Is is purely
subjective, or is there a more analytical method of figuring out that
your disaster relief programs were more effective or more efficient

Re: Is The Red Cross Effective?

2007-12-15T18:04:42Z

It's Maura yet again! I've been thinking about Sean's and Raindrop's
questions. Like I said, statistics are not my game. But even if they
were... how would we compare the community impact of, say, a unit of
blood, a person learning a lifesaving skill like CPR, a person
sheltered in a disaster, a meal delivered to someone cleaning up after

Re: Is The Red Cross Effective?

2007-12-15T17:37:26Z

Hello, folks, it's Maura again. I am afraid I am not a statistician,
so I am really not familiar with the kind of analysis you are asking
for. We do collect standard annual service data from our chapters,
such as the number and types of disasters to which they have
responded, the number of people they have trained in first aid, CPR,

Re: Is The Red Cross Effective?

2007-12-15T07:06:12Z

I second the notion. We need a better rubric for evaluating nonprofit
effectiveness; we'll all get there faster if we collaborate on the
metrics we're using, instead of letting the powers-that-be regale us
with "admin overhead vs. program" and other favorite nursery rhymes.
For an organization as large as the Red Cross, this must be a

Re: Is The Red Cross Effective?

2007-12-15T06:26:24Z

Maura, congrats on the quick reply. It is a great experience as a
donor to have a nonprofit respond to my question so quickly.
Everything you wrote sounds great. However, personally I'm interested
in rigorous impact evaluation. I realize that most nonprofits do not
have this sort of data, but the Red Cross has a lot of resources. Does

Re: Is The Red Cross Effective?

2007-12-15T01:10:22Z

Hi, Sean. This is Maura from the Red Cross. I think we are very
effective. We collect, process and distribute more than 40 percent of
the nation's blood supply. Our local chapters, which are funded by
their own communities and rely primarily on volunteers, together
respond to more than 70,000 disasters every year. Most of those

Is The Red Cross Effective?

2007-12-14T18:22:55Z

Is the Red Cross Effective? I don't mean do they have low overhead
expenses or some silly measure like that. I mean do they take donor
dollars and use them to fund an organization that produces high levels
of social impact? If the answer is yes, I'd love to know about any
data that backs this claim up.