Politics & Government

Donating To Hurricane Harvey Relief? Why People Are Rethinking Giving To Red Cross

Many are rethinking where to send their donations after a series of articles on Red Cross' spending after previous disasters.

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Americans donating to Hurricane Harvey relief have a variety of organizations, both local and national, to choose from, and one of the most recognizable organization is the American Red Cross. Former President Barack Obama even tweeted to his nearly 95 million followers suggesting a donation to the Red Cross as a way to help Harvey victims.

A series of articles, however, raise questions about how much of the money donated to the Red Cross actually goes directly to relief efforts. In an interview with NPR's Alisa Chang, Red Cross executive Brad Kiserman was asked about the organization's high administrative costs, and he was unable to say how much money exactly goes to relief.

Kiserman was asked directly how much of every dollar goes to relief, and he said he did not know the answer to that. He told NPR that as of Wednesday morning the Red Cross had spent $50 million in Harvey relief, on 232 shelters for 66,000 people.

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Asked about an NPR report that 25 percent of the money donated for Haiti after the 2010 earthquake went to internal Red Cross spending and whether that was still happening, Kiserman said it's not something he has "visibility on."

>>>You can listen to the full NPR Morning Edition interview here.

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>>>See Patch's article on how to help those impacted by Hurricane Harvey.

In a blog post, the Red Cross explained their response effort to Hurricane Harvey.

Both NPR and ProPublica have reported on Red Cross spending, and after the latest NPR report, ProPublica explained in a series of tweets what it found about Red Cross spending after major disasters, including the organization's response to Hurricane Sandy.

The questions raised in both NPR and ProPublica's reporting are causing people to rethink donating to the Red Cross.

Photo: Evacuees fill up cots at the George Brown Convention Center that has been turned into a shelter run by the American Red Cross to house victims of the high water from Hurricane Harvey. Photo by Erich Schlegel/Getty Images News/Getty Images

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