Red Cross disaster chief doesn't know what share of donations go to Harvey victims


The American Red Cross has already spent $50 million on Tropical Storm Harvey relief efforts, mostly for 232 shelters, Red Cross official Brad Kieserman told NPR's Morning Edition on Wednesday. But he couldn't say what percentage of donations are being spent directly on helping Harvey's victims. "We are committed, I am committed, my team is committed to using our resources and donor dollars in a way that best helps the people of Texas," said Kieserman, the Red Cross vice president of disaster operations and logistics.
The Red Cross doesn't have a great recent track record when it comes to storm relief, or transparency or honesty, NPR and ProPublica have reported since 2014. About a quarter of donations for Haiti after a terrible earthquake, or $124 million, went toward internal expenses, for example, according to a study released by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa). The organization also faced criticism for its handling of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Sandy in 2012, among other disasters.
When NPR's Alisa Chang asked Kieserman how much of every donated dollar is going to Harvey relief, he said he didn't know. "Yeah, I don't think I have the answer to that any better than the chief fundraiser knows how many, how much it costs to put a volunteer downrange for a week and how many emergency response vehicles I have on the road today," he said. Chang noted the 25 percent of Haiti donations going to overhead and asked if that's still going on. "It's not something I would have any visibility on," Kieserman said, adding that "the folks I work for are very, very attentive to cost effectiveness and cost efficiencies in making sure that as much as every dollar that we spend on an operation is client-facing."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The Red Cross isn't the only reputable organization helping out with the Harvey relief and recovery effort, however. NPR has a list, plus some tips on avoiding scams.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
August 24 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include Putin at Donald Trump's circus, gallons of whitewash, and a foldable cartoon
-
5 Post Office-approved cartoons about mail-in voting
Cartoons Artists take on reverse logic, Putin's election advice, and more
-
The battle of the weight-loss drugs
Talking Point Can Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly regain their former stock market glory? A lot is riding on next year's pills
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fine
Speed Read A divided appeals court threw out a hefty penalty against President Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in Intel
Speed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to China
Speed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with Disney
Speed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high
Speed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year