American Red Cross: Analysis of Public Relations Issues Report

This report examines the public relations issues faced by the American Red Cross, particularly during the Hurricane Katrina disaster in 2005. The report highlights the organization's failures in crisis communication, including its inability to meet requirements, allegations of fraud, and poor planning of relief activities. It proposes a campaign aimed at restoring public faith, increasing public involvement, and addressing discrepancies in resource allocation. The action plan includes leveraging social media, fostering community engagement, and establishing clear communication channels. The evaluation plan emphasizes surveying affected individuals, volunteers, and donors to assess the campaign's efficacy. The conclusion stresses the importance of effective communication and organized crisis management for non-profit organizations to maintain public trust and ensure their effective operation.

Running head: PUBLIC RELATIONS ISSUES IN AMERICAN RED CROSS
PUNLIC RELATIONS ISSUES IN AMERICAN RED CROSS
Name of the student
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1PUBLIC RELATIONS ISSUES IN AMERICAN RED CROSS
Executive Summary
Effective communication is the key factor to maintaining healthy public relations in any
organization. Non- profit organizations require communication with the public as most of
their activities are directed towards the welfare of the people. The significant aim of the paper
is to analyze the lack of crisis communication on part of the American Red Cross during the
disaster of hurricane Katrina. The problems arising out of the relief action plan has been
discussed along with the proposal of a campaign that aims at crisis management. The goals
and actions of the campaign have also been discussed in detail along with its method of
evaluation. In conclusion the importance of communication in restoring public relations has
been stated.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Discussion..................................................................................................................................3
About the American Red Cross..............................................................................................3
The issue of Hurricane Katrina..............................................................................................3
 Inability to meet requirements.....................................................................................4
 Fraud regarding relief efforts.......................................................................................4
 Poor planning of relief activities.................................................................................4
Goals of the campaign............................................................................................................5
 Restoration of faith in the organization.......................................................................5
 Involving more people in relief action........................................................................5
 Identification and resolution of discrepancies.............................................................5
Action plan to achieve the goals............................................................................................5
Evaluation plan.......................................................................................................................6
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................6
References..................................................................................................................................7

3PUBLIC RELATIONS ISSUES IN AMERICAN RED CROSS
Introduction
In non-profit organizations, public relations play an important role as the activities of
the organization is directed towards the welfare of the people (Cho, Schweickart and Haase
2014). In the occasion of a crisis, proper communication is required to ensure a healthy
relation of the organization with the people of the society that it operates in. The following
paragraphs of the report studies the discrepancies on part of the American Red Cross during
the disaster of hurricane Katrina in 2005. It was the duty of the non-profit organization to
cater to the requirements of the affected people. However, due to their inefficiency, their
action plan resulted in a negative publicity. A campaign program for the restoration of proper
public relations is essential to restore public relations of the organization. In conclusion, the
importance of crisis management in public relations has been discussed so that the
organization may be able to respond to and communicate with the people efficiently.
Discussion
About the American Red Cross
The Red Cross in America is a non-profit organization that was established in
the year 1881. This organization aims at providing humanitarian assistance for disaster relief,
emergencies, health issues and education in the United States of America. The mission of this
organization is to cater to the needs and requirements of disaster stricken people in times of
emergency by mobilizing manpower and allocating the resources donated by the people.
The issue of Hurricane Katrina
In the year 2005, one of the deadliest hurricanes struck the shores of the United
States, destroying numerous lives and property. More than 200,000 homes were devastated
leading to a tremendous physical and economic loss (Deryugina, Kawano and Levitt 2014).

4PUBLIC RELATIONS ISSUES IN AMERICAN RED CROSS
In such a situation, the American Red Cross had a huge responsibility of taking prompt action
to alleviate the problems that cropped up in the distressed areas (Schreiber, Yin, Omaish and
Broderick 2014).
In this aspect, the American Red Cross while claiming to have invested huge sums of
donations for relief-action displayed a lack of efficient crisis communication. The
organization posted the structure of allocation of donations on its website but according to the
people affected by the hurricane, these resources were never provided to them in reality. The
concept of crisis communication deals with the protection of an organization’s reputation to
prevent negative publicity (Coombs 2015). The Red Cross in America was subjected to
intense criticism regarding relief supply and management of workforce after the disaster of
hurricane Katrina. The problems that were recognized and resulted in a negative publicity can
be listed as follows:
 Inability to meet requirements – The American Red Cross exhibited a lack of
promptness to respond to the problems of the people (Brown et al. 2015). Flood prone
areas did not receive any attention from the organization as no shelters or health care
units were opened.
 Fraud regarding relief efforts – Red Cross raised a huge sum of money and supplies
but the worst affected places did not receive any support from the organization in
terms of supplies. This raised questions regarding the investment of the money thus
raised (Arshad, Asyiqin, Razali and Bakar 2015).
 Poor planning of relief activities – In times of need, the Red Cross hired
inexperienced workers to volunteer for relief activities. This resulted in a lax on part
of the workers who were not sure about what is to be done (McKenzie 2014).

5PUBLIC RELATIONS ISSUES IN AMERICAN RED CROSS
Goals of the campaign
The American Red Cross must engage in a campaign to address the negative publicity
and improve their communication with the public. The goals of this campaign can be listed as
follows:
 Restoration of faith in the organization – Action must be taken to clear
misunderstandings with the public, so that they can rely on the organization for
assistance during future disasters.
 Involving more people in relief action – Participation of the public in relief
activities will help in improvement of their relation with the organization, thereby
giving them insight about the programs undertaken.
 Identification and resolution of discrepancies – The questions regarding the
allocation of raised funds must be answered by indicating the areas that require
immediate relief work. The campaign should also include an initiative towards prompt
response to people who require assistance.
Action plan to achieve the goals
The organized campaign can ensure the achievement of the aforementioned goals by
implementing the following action plan:
 The campaign can restore the reputation of the organization by spreading awareness
about its activities through social media platforms. An openness towards public
feedback on the relief action plan will also be beneficial.
 Interaction with the people through community activities, for volunteering in relief-
supply, can be implemented to improve public relations with the organization.
 Public grievances must be acknowledged and investigated to identify the
discrepancies of the organization so that they are not repeated again.

6PUBLIC RELATIONS ISSUES IN AMERICAN RED CROSS
 The campaign must also involve in the hiring of experienced volunteers and create
prompt action groups so that emergency-situations of the people can be addressed
efficiently.
Evaluation plan
The key to crisis management is efficient means of communication (Harrison 2016).
The strategies incorporated in the action plan can be evaluated by surveying the responses of
the people who have suffered the disaster, as well as the volunteers and donators. A media
platform is beneficial in this aspect because of its wide reach. Helplines to communicate with
the organization directly will help in recording the responses from the public. Moreover, a
survey on the allocation of supplies and funds is essential to evaluate the efficiency of the
campaign. If there is an increase in the involvement of people in the aforementioned action
plan, it can be deduced that the reputation of the organization can be restored through the
campaign. The evaluation plan must be carried out immediately after the action plan for a
period of one month to ensure its efficacy.
Conclusion
Through an analysis of the crisis communication of the American Red Cross during
the disaster of hurricane Katrina, it can be concluded that effective communication is an
essential in ensuring good public relations. A non-profit organization is interdependent on the
involvement of the public for its proper functioning. Therefore, organized crisis management
through campaigns is necessary to restore the faith of the people in the organization. This
requires an extensive planning on part of the organization to conduct campaigns and
awareness programs. Adequate attention must also be given to public opinions and feedback
so that the organization may be able to monitor its goals and the actions of its workers.

7PUBLIC RELATIONS ISSUES IN AMERICAN RED CROSS
References
Arshad, R., Asyiqin, W.A., Razali, W.M. and Bakar, N.A., 2015. Catch the “warning
signals”: The fight against fraud and abuse in non-profit Organisations. Procedia Economics
and Finance, 28, pp.114-120.
Brown, L.M., Christensen, J.J., Ialynytchev, A., Thomas, K.S., Frahm, K.A. and Hyer, K.,
2015. Experiences of assisted living facility staff in evacuating and sheltering residents
during hurricanes. Current Psychology, 34(3), pp.506-514.
Cho, M., Schweickart, T. and Haase, A., 2014. Public engagement with nonprofit
organizations on Facebook. Public Relations Review, 40(3), pp.565-567.
Coombs, W.T., 2015. The value of communication during a crisis: Insights from strategic
communication research. Business Horizons, 58(2), pp.141-148.
Deryugina, T., Kawano, L. and Levitt, S., 2014. The economic impact of hurricane katrina
on its victims: evidence from individual tax returns (No. w20713). National Bureau of
Economic Research.
Harrison, S. ed., 2016. Disasters and the media: Managing crisis communications. Springer.
McKenzie, E., 2014. Hurricane Katrina, Public Health, and Law Enforcement Dr. Joseph
Costa Health Policy and Management MPH 525.
Schreiber, M.D., Yin, R., Omaish, M. and Broderick, J.E., 2014. Snapshot from superstorm
Sandy: American Red Cross mental health risk surveillance in lower New York State. Annals
of emergency medicine, 64(1), pp.59-65.