In the middle of perhaps the biggest news story of this young century - the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States - one of the world’s largest NonProfit organizations grabbed headline after headline. This attention did not stem from the good work they were doing, but from one seeming misstep after another.

Almost four years to the day later, during the aftermath of 2005’s Hurricane Katrina in the U.S. gulf coast, again this organization received major headlines. And again, the news was not good.

Most recently, scandal has hit again, this time with a CEO resigning in shame after an inappropriate "personal relationship" with a staffer.

With the exception of being thankful they are not walking in the Red Cross’s shoes, most small and medium-sized NonProfit organizations do not pay these stories much mind, thinking that the overwhelming problems of the American Red Cross are unrelated to the work of their own agencies. After all, the American Red Cross is a multi-BILLION-dollar organization, chartered by the Congress of the United States. Our small locally based organization doesn’t do the kind of high profile work that could put us in the national spotlight like the American Red Cross!"

Well, small and medium-sized Community Benefit Organizations DO have a lot they can learn from the American Red Cross. And it is NOT because you never know when your organization WILL be in the spotlight. Community Benefit Organizations have a lot to learn from this situation because the REAL problems at the American Red Cross - the ones that have led to their high visibility nightmares - are the same problems our small and medium-sized organizations face every day.

And so we thought it would be helpful to use the American Red Cross as a case study, to provide insight into how we can better run our own smaller organizations. What symptoms does the Red Cross display that other organizations should look for, to begin to identify if they are at risk? If they do have these symptoms, what can they discern from them? And how can they begin to heal themselves?

We used three steps in this case study review:

1) A review of the symptoms

2) A diagnosis

3) A prescribed treatment

In each of these steps, we will address the issues as your organization might encounter them, and then look to how those issues have affected the Red Cross. And while these are by no means ALL the problems that may affect your organization, we think you will be surprised at how many of these issues are at the root of problems your own organization may be facing. As you read the case study approach to this report, we hope you will get ideas about how to identify both symptoms and larger issues that are particular to your own organization.

If I Were a Consultant to the American Red Cross (or to Your Organization!):
Simple Things Your Organization Can Learn from the Red Cross’s Mistakes