Community Engagement and Responsibilities of Australian Red Cross

This article sheds light on the community engagement and responsibilities of Australian Red Cross towards uplifting the social standards of the people. It discusses social innovation, community engagement theory, proposed social innovation, micro and macro environment of Australian Red Cross, ethical implications of social innovation, funding and social implications of social innovation.

Running head: COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Community engagement and responsibilities of Australian Red Cross
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COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Executive Summary
Engaging the marginalized people into the mainstream social activities is accounted as one of
the primary responsibilities of the community organizations. Innovation in the functionalities
reflects the initiatives towards enhancing the parameter of corporate social responsibilities.
The concept of social innovation is used by organizations like Australian Red Cross in terms
of enhancing the standard of living for the community people. Community engagement
theory is used by the organization for involving the clients and the customers in ensuring the
social welfare of the community people.
The proposed innovation of education and employment of the community children and the
families proves appropriate. As they have been victimized of natural disasters and political
instabilities, therefore, they need proper facilities, so that their basic survival needs can be
fulfilled. Donations, grants and government funds would assist the organization in enhancing
the standards of living for the community people. Adopting social media, for collecting funds
would help the organization in reaching to large number of customers. Advertising
campaigns and celebrity endorsements would act as financial aids and assistance.
Strategic approach needs to be exposed in all of the activities. This is in terms of prioritizing
the activities according to the requirements. Moreover, strategic approach would help in
gaining trust, loyalty and dependence from the customers.

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Table of contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Insight into Australian Red Cross..............................................................................................3
Discussion of social innovation and community engagement theory........................................3
Community engagement theory for social innovation...............................................................6
Description of the proposed social innovation and how it contributes to the common good....6
Micro and macro environment of Australian Red Cross and ethical implications of social
innovation...................................................................................................................................8
Overview and brief discussion on the challenges for implementation......................................9
Conclusion................................................................................................................................10
References and bibliography....................................................................................................12

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Introduction
Communities have certain responsibilities in terms of ensuring the wellbeing of the
people. One of these responsibilities is involving the community people in the activities. This
involvement empowers the people, stabilizing their societal position (Milliken, Schipani,
Bishara and Prado 2015). This assignment attempts to shed light on the community
engagement and responsibilities of Australian Red Cross towards uplifting the social
standards of the people.
Insight into Australian Red Cross
With the motto of Power of Humanity, Australian Red Cross was founded in 1914. It
is a non-governmental organization, working towards the provision of human aid to the needy
people. The operations of the NGO is spread all over Australia. As a matter of specification,
the NGO deals in the provision of services like international aid, international humanitarian
law, migration support, emergency management, blood donation, community services and
social inclusion. The NGO possesses affiliation to International Red Cross and Red Crescent
Movement (Redcross.org.au 2018)
Discussion of social innovation and community engagement theory
Social innovation
Social innovation aligns with the creation, development, adoption and integration of
new concepts, systems and practices for the development of the people. The main aim here is
the strengthening the societal position of the individuals. In order to bring innovation within
the social services, integrated process is followed. Typical example of this is open source
methods and techniques. Some of the innovations have social cause such as online
volunteering, distance learning among others (Moulaert 2016). Inter-sectorial approach

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reflects the diversity within the social innovation. Universal application of social innovations
reflects the broadened scope and arena of the social innovation.
Social innovation mainly focuses on the process of innovation and how the innovation
process takes shape. In case of the NGOs, social innovation is crucial in terms of fulfilling the
global challenges. Innovation secures the market position and bestows large customer
satisfaction. Social innovation is a changing concept within the NGOs, which contradicts the
lack of knowledge regarding the societal development. One of the striking facts is that most
of the NGOs have emerged successful in bringing innovation without proper knowledge of
the frameworks, boundaries and meanings (Ojha et al. 2016). However, the positive aspect
here is the awareness of the NGO personnel towards developing new ideas for achieving
societal development.
Most of the NGOs like Australian Red Cross, plans innovation for dealing with the
increased rates of inequality. Mention can be made of the new funding mechanisms, which
helps the NGO to introduce effective services for the community people. The NGO personnel
felt the need for seek alternatives for the aids.
Community engagement theory
Community engagement has three components- power relations, sustainable planning
and deliberate democracy.

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Figure 1: Components of Community engagement theory
(Source: Herremans, Nazariand Mahmoudian, F. (2016)
Figure 2: Five phases of community engagement
(Source: Lakin and Scheubel 2017)
The personnel of Australian Red Cross follow an integrated process for engaging the
community people in the activities. The first step includes launching the services for
attracting the community people towards the services. The second phase involves spreading
the awareness among the people regarding the services and the proposed innovation. Third
phase consists of interaction with the community people regarding bringing innovation within
the aids and the services. The fourth phase is the stage, where the community people are
involved within the decision-making process. The penultimate phase is consultation with the
advocates regarding evaluation of the proposed steps (Gibson-Graham and Roelvink 2016).

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Community engagement theory for social innovation
The personnel of Red Cross interact with the community people for gaining an insight
into their opinions. These interactions make the personnel aware of the innovations, which
are needed within the assistances. Conducting meetings with the higher authorities helps the
personnel of Australian Red Cross to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed innovations.
The focus here is on the societal development of the community people. This evaluation,
further, is assistance in terms of launching the proposed changes for the community people.
Involving the people in the stage of decision-making proves beneficial in terms of their social
upliftment (Thompson 2017).
Description of the proposed social innovation and how it contributes to the common
good
Australian Red Cross envisions the creation of a better society through the provision
of quality aid and assistance to the people in distress. The Samaritan attitude of the NGO
enhances the reputation. The NGO aims to save the lives of the people, who have been victim
of some natural disaster. Along with this, the NGO is conscious towards alleviating the
instances of political instabilities. Whatever may be the circumstances, the staffs of the
community organization strive towards protecting the lives of the vulnerable community
people (Redcross.org.au 2018). Based on these missions and visions, one of the innovation,
which can be proposed is education for the children, affected in the natural calamities and
the political instabilities. Along with this, the families of the children can be involved in
100 days working scheme.

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Figure 3: Proposed social innovation of educating the community children
(Source: Dare, Schirmer and Vanclay 2014)
Education of the children would make the NGO an agent towards their development.
Introducing crèche systems for the small children would reduce the worries of the parents
regarding their care, nutrition and support. Engagement of the parents in the 100 days
working scheme would make up for the loss, which they have faced in the disasters or
political instabilities. Accommodation facilities for the children and the families would
suffice the fulfilment of their basic needs of home, clothing and shelter. For provision of
these services, the financial flexibility of the NGO needs to be strong. Donations can be one
of the means, through which funds can be collected for the project. Social media can be one
of the effective means for collecting funds and donations on large scale.

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Figure 4: Advertising campaign by Australian Red Cross
(Source: Redcross.org.au 2018)
Advertising campaigns would assist the NGO to enhance the awareness about the
need for the social innovation. Taking the assistance of the social networking sites would
support the community organization to reach to large number of customers. Here, the main
aim would not be gaining profit, instead, the vision would be social welfare of the community
people. Ethical code of conduct would be essential in terms of averting any wrong or illegal
means towards the provision of aids and assistance to the needy people. For this, security
cookies and policies need to be installed in the official website. Using secure payment
methods would be assistance for the personnel of the community organization in terms of
assuring the customers that their donations would be used for the project purpose instead of
commercialization. Herein lays the appropriateness of Data Protection Act (1998), which
would be beneficial in terms of protecting the privacy, security and safety of the community
people.

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Micro and macro environment of Australian Red Cross and ethical implications of
social innovation
Micro environment
SWOT analysis
Strengths
 Wide supply chain network
 Emergency services
 Effective customer care
Weakness
 Lack of accommodation facilities
for the victims affected in the
disasters and political instabilities
Opportunities
 Volunteering
 Membership
 First aid courses
Threats
 Negligence towards installing
security cookies in the customer
profiles
Table 1: SWOT Analysis of Australian Red Cross
(Source: Redcross.org.au 2018)
Adherence and compliance to the fundamental principles of Humanity helps
Australian Red Cross to fulfil the needs, demands and requirements of the vulnerable
community people. Impartial approach in the provision of support and aid is the keystone
towards gaining the trust, dependence and loyalty from the customers. Foreign experts are
hired for conducting sessions, discussions and open forums, which provide platform to the
vulnerable people in terms of voicing out their experiences. Their experiences enables the
staffs to take appropriate actions for enhancing the standards of living of these people
(Redcross.org.au 2018). One of the mentionable points is averting such advertisements,
which is against the code of ethics. Effective customer care suffices the needs of the foreign
students coming for admission in the first aid courses. Membership forms provide them with

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the opportunity to strengthen the supply chain network of the community organization.
Volunteers play an active role in ensuring that the emergency needs of the people are fulfilled
at the earliest.
Macro environment
Political  Governmental interventions
Economic  Donations
 Grants
 Charity
Social  Needs of the community people
Technological  Social media for mass appeal in
striving towards humanity
Legal  Equality Act, Code of Ethics
Environmental  Cleanliness and hygiene in the
bottles where blood is collected
Table 2: PESTLE analysis of Australian Red Cross
(Source: Redcross.org.au 2018)
The NGO possesses external alliances with the politicians, policy makers, and care
agencies for improving the standard of living for the community people. This is a
governmental intervention. Advertisements are made in the international markets with due
consideration of code of ethics, which aligns with the legal parameter. Along with this, the
community organization considers Equality Act for engaging the people into the mainstream
societal activities. International operations are conducted through preservation of culture and
values. Typical example of this is the International Humanitarian Law Training courses to the

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foreign students. This reflects the conscious approach towards fulfilling the basic needs of the
community people in terms of enhancing their living standards. Distance learning is provided
to the vulnerable migrants, who had been a victim of some disasters or political instabilities
(Redcross.org.au 2018). Governmental intervention enables Australian Red Cross in terms of
delivering quality support and aid to the community people. Typical example of this is the
blood donation camps, where cleanliness and hygiene is crucial.
Funding and social implications of social innovation
Funding for the education of the children and work for their families would be
collected through donations. This can be done through social media or advertising campaigns.
Funding is also needed in terms of making accommodation and food arrangements. Using
secure payment options would be beneficial in terms of utilizing the funds for the project
purpose. Within this, installation of security and privacy cookies would result in high
involvement of the people towards donating for the social cause. As the cause here is noble,
therefore, aspects of ratings would not be there. Instead, the donations given by the clients
and the customers would automatically be recorded in the managers’ account
(Redcross.org.au 2018).
Along with this, grants would be taken from the associate partners and agencies.
These grants would act as financial assistance for the NGOs like Australian Red Cross in
terms of ensuring the development of the community people.
Government funds can also be utilized by the NGO staffs for introducing effective
schemes for the community people and children. The clients and the customers can be urged
to make the donations directly to the government website.
Charity shows can also be conducted for the collecting the funds for the education and
well establishment of the community children and their families. Celebrity performances can

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be one of the means for attaining flexibility within the financial parameter (Redcross.org.au
2018). Establishing contracts with the brands would also suffice the need of financial
assistance. For example, alliance with Woolworths can be fruitful for Australian Red Cross.
This is in terms of gaining celebrity endorsements, which is one of the effective means of
financial flexibility. On the other hand, brands like Woolworths can conduct a marketing
campaign, where the investments from the customers would be spent on the education and
development of community children and their families.
Overview and brief discussion on the challenges for implementation
The proposed methods of funding might be a challenge if Australian Red Cross does
not develop strategies and conduct planning. According to the arguments of Zandvlietand
Anderson (2017), absence of strategic planning would aggravate the complexities in terms of
bringing the desired social innovation within the community development. Even if the
strategies are implemented, improper communication between the clients and the staffs would
deviate the purpose of the innovation. This is because improper communication would
generate confusions and misunderstandings. Along with this, inefficient staffs can fail
towards executing the projects related tasks according to the requirements. This would
degrade the hard earned reputation before the clients and the customers.
Adopting illegal means for collecting the donations is one of the challenges, which
destroys the humanity for which the organizations like Australian Red Cross operates (Dare,
Schirmer and Vanclay 2014). Not involving the clients and the customers in the
implementation process would be illegal. This is because their opinions would be crucial in
terms of implementing the proposed innovation. Apart from this, one of the other challenges
is grants or permission from the government, which delays the process of growth and
development in case of the community people. Even lack of resources is a challenge for
implementation of the proposed means of social innovation.

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Lack of understanding regarding the ways and means of executing the activities is a
challenge, as it delays the actual process of innovation. Negligent approach of the managers
towards monitoring and regulating the performance of the employees can increased the
difficulties for Australian Red Cross in terms of implementing the innovation efficiently and
effectively. Absence of evaluation is the biggest challenge in terms of assuring whether the
identified goals and objectives are fulfilled (Preece 2016). This evaluation is crucial in terms
of examining the extent to which the development of the community people have been
ensured.
Conclusion
Community organizations like Australian Red Cross have the responsibility of
ensuring the development of the people. Social innovation results in engagement of the
people within the mainstream activities. Australian Red Cross adopts community engagement
theory for engaging the clients and the customers in the struggle towards humanity. The
social innovation proposed for the community organization is education for the children and
employment opportunities for the families. Collecting funds and donations would help the
organization to introduce effective schemes for ensuring the social welfare of the community
people. Strategic approach would seem fruitful in terms of dealing with the implementation
process.

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References and bibliography
Chandra, A., Miller, C.E., Acosta, J.D., Weilant, S., Trujillo, M. and Plough, A., 2016.
Drivers of health as a shared value: mindset, expectations, sense of community, and civic
engagement. Health Affairs, 35(11), pp.1959-1963.
Dare, M., Schirmer, J. and Vanclay, F., 2014. Community engagement and social licence to
operate. Impact assessment and project appraisal, 32(3), pp.188-197.
Gibson-Graham, J.K. and Roelvink, G., 2016. Social innovation for community economies.
In Social innovation and territorial development (pp. 41-54). Routledge.
Herremans, I. M., Nazari, J. A., &Mahmoudian, F. (2016). Stakeholder relationships,
engagement, and sustainability reporting. Journal of Business Ethics, 138(3), 417-435.
Lakin, N. and Scheubel, V., 2017. Corporate community involvement: The definitive guide to
maximizing your business' societal engagement. Routledge.
Milliken, F.J., Schipani, C.A., Bishara, N.D. and Prado, A.M., 2015. Linking workplace
practices to community engagement: The case for encouraging employee voice. Academy of
Management Perspectives, 29(4), pp.405-421.
Moulaert, F., 2016. Social innovation: Institutionally embedded, territorially (re) produced.
In Social innovation and territorial development (pp. 27-40). Routledge.
Ojha, H.R., Ford, R., Keenan, R.J., Race, D., Vega, D.C., Baral, H. and Sapkota, P., 2016.
Delocalizing communities: changing forms of community engagement in natural resources
governance. World Development, 87, pp.274-290.
Preece, J., 2016. Negotiating service learning through community engagement: Adaptive
leadership, knowledge, dialogue and power. Education as Change, 20(1), pp.1-22.

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Ramachandra, A. and Naha Abu Mansor, N., 2014. Sustainability of community
engagement–in the hands of stakeholders?. Education+ Training, 56(7), pp.588-598.
Redcross.org.au2018. The Power of Humanity. Available at: https://www.redcross.org.au/
[Accessed on 19th September 2018]
Shultz, C.J., 2016. Marketing an End to War: Constructive Engagement, Community
Wellbeing, and Sustainable Peace. Markets, Globalization & Development Review, 1(2).
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theory. Routledge.
Zandvliet, L. and Anderson, M., 2017. Getting it right: Making corporate-community
relations work. Routledge.
Zuber-Skerritt, O., 2015. Participatory Action Learning and Action Research (PALAR) for
community engagement: A theoretical framework. Educational Research for Social
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