American Red Cross

It was a great first date. Your messages were spot-on; he was interested in what you had to say; there was an immediate connection. You're off to a great start. Now what? Nonprofits of all shapes and sizes struggle with retaining first-time donors. The first step — getting them in the door — is a big one, but all that effort will be for naught if you can't take the relationship to the next level.

The response from donors following January's earthquake in Haiti came in fast and furious — to the tune of tens of millions of dollars flooding in through every channel imaginable. From online donations to mobile text-to-give to traditional mail, the response was overwhelming. But questions also arose about today's giving environment, especially in a crisis. How do you keep new donors engaged? Is this the sign of a mobile revolution? How can you mobilize funds quickly and efficiently? How do you prepare for emergencies?

April 30, 2010, Miami Herald — Fred Sajous, a Haitian earthquake survivor armed with a video camera and a cause, is a man on a mission: to figure out how the American Red Cross spent the $430 million it raised for the disaster.

The former Broward Community College student visited the tent city across the street from the American Red Cross' Pétionville headquarters. Tent city leaders said they had not received anything from the Red Cross. With the organization's monthly report in hand, he went to a dozen more settlements.

``I couldn't find the $106 million,'' said Sajous, a 29-year-old mechanical engineer who left Fort Lauderdale for Port-au-Prince after being laid off last year. ``I didn't see a single sticker or anything.''

More than three months since the American Red Cross raised hundreds of millions to aid Haiti in the aftermath of the 7.0 earthquake that killed an estimated 300,000 and left 1.3 million homeless, the organization says it has spent about a quarter of the money.

But after consuming $106 million in the first 60 days, the Red Cross in the past month has tapped just $5 million more and has come under fire for what critics call anemic spending.

Other aid groups, members of Congress, bloggers and even a former board member are among the growing chorus asking what the Red Cross is doing with such a massive amount of money raised in such a short time.

April 21, 2010, Press Release — To help prepare their communities for, and respond to, natural and other disasters when and where they strike, the American Red Cross and Cisco today announced the creation of the largest corporate volunteer program in the history of the Red Cross. In an initiative called "Cisco's Ready," modeled after the Red Cross' "Ready When the Time Comes" training program for corporate personnel, Cisco employees around the world are undertaking emergency response training provided by the Red Cross. The announcement was made during 2010 National Volunteer Week.

Cisco employees will train for emergency response with more than 20 Red Cross chapters in the US and affiliates throughout the world. Volunteers will learn about applying essential principles to disaster response; providing mass care related to first aid, shelter, food and supply distribution; and about identifying volunteer opportunities. Trainees will qualify for Red Cross "Fulfilling Our Mission" and "Mass Care" certifications.

I'm not the most handy guy around, so, for the safety of my family, I don't have a lot of power tools. But a while back, I got a drill. I needed to make small, round holes in some things, and the drill helped me do it with great efficiency and a lot of cool noise. I loved that drill. It made holes in nearly anything I wanted to put a hole in. A kind of drill rapture overtook me. I saw that drill as the most elegant tool in the box. So much better than those boring hammers and screwdrivers.

FundRaising Success: How would you define where the fundraising sector in the United States is in regard to mobile giving?

Jim Killion: Mobile giving is in its infancy, but with the dramatic results achieved by the Red Cross with text-to-give to Haiti relief, it is now on most people's radar. In many ways, mobile giving is where what is now often referred to as "traditional Internet giving" was six or eight years ago. And just as Internet giving has taken off in the last decade, so will mobile giving. But the move to mobile will be much faster than the move to Internet giving.

Charleston, S.C., March 23, 2010, Business Wire — Blackbaud, Inc. today announced the availability of Blackbaud NetCommunity Spark(TM), a solution designed to help nonprofits complement and expand their existing online presence. Organizations including American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Detroit Zoological Society, and Hui No'Eau Visual Arts Center have recently selected and will use the solution to improve their supporters' online experience and activate two-way communications.

Earlier this year, I participated on a panel about blogging for nonprofits at the Ad Council. The room was full of nonprofit people trying to understand what blogging is, if their organizations should be doing it and how it's done. To prepare for the talk, the Big Duck staff and I reviewed dozens of sites hoping to find out how organizations use blogging to enhance their programs, advocacy and fundraising communications. We reached out to nonprofits via Twitter, Facebook, e-mail and, oh yeah, conversation. We looked at who is blogging in organizations of all sizes, how the blogs relate to their primary Web sites, who is commenting, and who is doing something fresh or unexpected.

Jan. 20, 2010, Chronicle of Philanthropy — Because of the scale of the catastrophe in Haiti, cellphone carriers are speeding up the delivery of text-message donations to the American Red Cross — but not necessarily to other relief organizations.

Washington, December 2, 2009 — The Hewlett-Packard Company Foundation has contributed more than $1 million this year to help fund American Red Cross disaster response.