Mission: Since its founding in 1881 by visionary leader Clara Barton, the American Red Cross has been the nation's premier emergency response organization. We bring shelter, ... (More)
American Red Cross is a 501(c)(3) organization, with an IRS ruling year of 1938, and donations are tax-deductible.
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Contact Information
431 Eighteenth Street, NW
Washington DC 20006
Mail donations to:
P.O. Box 37839
Boone IA 50037
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Star Rating System by Charity Navigator
Charity Navigator evaluates a nonprofit organization’s financial health including measures of stability, efficiency and sustainability. We also track accountability and transparency policies to ensure the good governance and integrity of the organization.
Good
This charity's score is 88.99, earning it a 3-Star rating. Donors can "Give with Confidence" to this charity.
This score is calculated from two sub-scores:
Finance: 84.44 View details
Accountability & Transparency: 100.00 View details
This score represents Form 990 data from 2020, the latest year published by the IRS.
View this organization’s historical ratings.
Star Rated Report
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Program Expense Ratio
90.2%
The Program Expense Ratio is determined by Program Expenses divided by Total Expense (average of most recent three 990s).
This measure reflects the percent of its total expenses a charity spends on the programs and services it exists to deliver. Dividing a charity's average program expenses by its average total functional expenses yields this percentage. We calculate the charity's average expenses over its three most recent fiscal years.
Source: IRS Form 990
Administrative Expenses
3.4%
As reported by charities on their IRS Form 990, this measure reflects what percent of its total budget a charity spends on overhead, administrative staff and associated costs, and organizational meetings. Dividing a charity's average administrative expenses by its average total functional expenses yields this percentage. We calculate the charity's average expenses over its three most recent fiscal years.
Source: IRS Form 990
Fundraising Expenses
6.2%
This measure reflects what a charity spends to raise money. Fundraising expenses can include campaign printing, publicity, mailing, and staffing and costs incurred in soliciting donations, memberships, and grants. Dividing a charity's average fundraising expenses by its average total functional expenses yields this percentage. We calculate the charity's average expenses over its three most recent fiscal years.
Source: IRS Form 990
Liabilities to Assets Ratio
44.5%
The Liabilities to Assets Ratio is determined by Total Liabilities divided by Total Assets (most recent 990).
Part of our goal in rating the financial performance of charities is to help donors assess the financial capacity and sustainability of a charity. As do organizations in other sectors, charities must be mindful of their management of total liabilites in relation to their total assets. This ratio is an indicator of an organization’s solvency and or long term sustainability. Dividing a charity's total liabilities by its total assets yields this percentage.
Source: IRS Form 990
Fundraising Efficiency
$0.17
The amount spent to raise $1 in charitable contributions. To calculate a charity's fundraising efficiency, we divide its average fundraising expenses by the average total contributions it receives. We calculate the charity's average expenses and average contributions over its three most recent fiscal years.
Source: IRS Form 990
Working Capital Ratio
0.26 years
Determines how long a charity could sustain its level of spending using its net available assets, or working capital, as reported on its most recently filed Form 990. We include in a charity's working capital unrestricted and temporarily restricted net assets, and exclude permanently restricted net assets. Dividing these net available assets in the most recent year by a charity's average total expenses, yields the working capital ratio. We calculate the charity's average total expenses over its three most recent fiscal years.
Source: IRS Form 990
Program Expense Growth
-1.06%
We compute the average annual growth of program expenses using the following formula: [(Yn/Y0)(1/n)]-1, where Y0 is a charity's program expenses in the first year of the interval analyzed, Yn is the charity's program expenses in the most recent year, and n is the interval of years passed between Y0 and Yn.
Source: IRS Form 990
Governance
Charity Navigator looks to confirm on the Form 990 that the organization has these governance practices in place.
Sources Include: IRS Form 990
| Governance: | |
|---|---|
| Independent Voting Board Members ... (More) | |
| No Material Diversion of Assets ... (More) A diversion of assets – any unauthorized conversion or use of the organization's assets other than for the organization's authorized purposes, including but not limited to embezzlement or theft – can seriously call into question a charity's financial integrity. We check the charity's last two Forms 990 to see if the charity has reported any diversion of assets. If the charity does report a diversion, then we check to see if it complied with the Form 990 instructions by describing what happened and its corrective action. This metric will be assigned to one of the following categories:
| |
| Audited Financials Prepared by Independent Accountant ... (More) Audited financial statements provide important information about financial accountability and accuracy. They should be prepared by an independent accountant with oversight from an audit committee. (It is not necessary that the audit committee be a separate committee. Often at smaller charities, it falls within the responsibilities of the finance committee or the executive committee.) The committee provides an important oversight layer between the management of the organization, which is responsible for the financial information reported, and the independent accountant, who reviews the financials and issues an opinion based on its findings. We check the charity's Form 990 reporting to see if it meets this criteria.
| |
| Does Not Provide Loan(s) to or Receive Loan(s) From Related Parties ... (More) | |
| Documents Board Meeting Minutes ... (More) | |
| Distributes 990 to Board Before Filing ... (More) | |
| Compensates Board ... (More) |
Policies
Charity Navigator looks to confirm on the Form 990, or for some metrics on the charity's website, that the organization has these policies in place.
Sources Include: IRS Form 990 and organization's website
| Policies: | |
|---|---|
| Conflict of Interest ... (More) | |
| Whistleblower ... (More) | |
| Records Retention and Destruction ... (More) | |
| CEO Compensation Process ... (More) | |
| Donor Privacy ... (More) Donors can be reluctant to contribute to a charity when their name, address, or other basic information may become part of donor lists that are exchanged or sold, resulting in an influx of charitable solicitations from other organizations. Our analysts check the charity's website to see if the organization has a donor privacy policy in place and what it does and does not cover. Privacy policies are assigned to one of the following categories:
The privacy policy must be specific to donor information. A general website policy which references "visitor" or "user" personal information will not suffice. A policy that refers to donor information collected on the website is also not sufficient as the policy must be comprehensive and applicable to both online and offline donors. The existence of a privacy policy of any type does not prohibit the charity itself from contacting the donor for informational, educational, or solicitation purposes. (Less) |
Transparency
Charity Navigator looks to confirm on the Form 990, or for some metrics on the charity's website, that the organization makes this information easily accessible.
Sources Include: IRS Form 990 and organization's website
| Transparency: | |
|---|---|
| CEO Salary Listed on 990 ... (More) | |
| Board of Directors Listed on Website ... (More) | |
| Key Staff Listed on Website ... (More) | |
| Audited Financial Statements on Website ... (More) | |
| Form 990 Available on Website ... (More) |
Additional Information
Unscored
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Total Revenue and Expenses
This chart displays the trend of revenue and expenses over the past several years for this organization, as reported on their IRS Form 990.
Salary of Key Persons
Presented here are this organizations key compensated staff members as identified by our analysts. This compensation data includes salary, cash bonuses and expense accounts and is displayed exactly how it is reported to the IRS. The amounts do not include nontaxable benefits, deferred compensation, or other amounts not reported on Form W-2. In some cases, these amounts may include compensation from related organizations. Read the IRS policies for compensation reporting
Gail McGovern, President & CEO
$737,971 (0.03% of Total Expenses)
Current CEO and Board Chair can be found in the Leadership & Adaptability report below.
Source: IRS Form 990 (page 7), filing year 2020
Business Master File Data
Below are some key data points from the Exempt Organization IRS Business Master File (BMF) for this organization. Learn more about the BMF on the IRS website
Activities:
Emergency or disaster aid fund (BMF activity code: 902)
Gifts or grants to individuals (other than scholarships) (BMF activity code: 561)
Foundation Status:
Organization which receives a substantial part of its support from a governmental unit or the general public 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) (BMF foundation code: 15)
Affiliation:
Central - the organization is a central type organization (no group exemption) of a National, Regional or Geographic grouping of organizations. (BMF affiliation code: 1)
Data Sources: IRS Forms 990
The Form 990 is a document that nonprofit organizations file with the IRS annually. We leverage finance and accountability data from it to form Encompass ratings. Click here to view this organization's Forms 990 on the IRS website (if any are available).
Historical Ratings
| Date Published | Form 990 FYE | Overall Score | Overall Rating |
| Rating Version: 2.1 | |||
| 9/1/2021 | 2020 | 88.99 | |
| 5/1/2020 | 2019 | 89.76 | |
| 4/1/2019 | 2018 | 88.71 | |
| 2/1/2018 | 2017 | 84.09 | |
| 12/22/2017 | 2016 | 78.78 |  |
| 10/1/2016 | 2015 | 83.33 | |
| 6/1/2016 | 2014 | 85.01 | |
| Rating Version: 2.0 | |||
| 9/1/2015 | 2014 | 80.98 | |
| 5/1/2015 | 2014 | 80.05 | |
This organization received multiple star ratings within this fiscal year, due to an update to its Accountability and Transparency data and/or the receipt of an amended Form 990. | |||
| 7/1/2014 | 2013 | 85.25 | |
| 9/1/2013 | 2012 | 86.46 | |
| 6/1/2012 | 2011 | 89.64 | |
| 9/20/2011 | 2010 | 92.24 |  |
| Rating Version: 1.0 | |||
| 6/1/2011 | 2010 | 86.86 | |
| 6/1/2010 | 2009 | 85.48 | |
| 9/1/2009 | 2008 | 84.62 | |
| 12/1/2008 | 2007 | 79.62 | |
| 11/1/2007 | 2006 | 99.40 | |
| 10/1/2006 | 2005 | 95.37 | |
| 8/1/2005 | 2004 | 90.36 | |
| 8/1/2004 | 2003 | 94.11 | |
| 6/9/2003 | 2002 | 96.63 | |
| 10/15/2002 | 2001 | 94.04 | |
Impact & Results
This score estimates the actual impact a nonprofit has on the lives of those it serves, and determines whether it is making good use of donor resources to achieve that impact.
Impact & Results Score
100
out of 100
American Red Cross is , earning a passing score. This score has no effect on the organization's Star Rating.
Impact
$670 provides an additional year of healthy life to a blood transfusion patient.
Do you work at American Red Cross? Join the waitlist for an updated Impact & Results score.
Impact & Results Report
100
of 100 points
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Rated Program
Program
Blood Donation
Activities
The nonprofit collects blood from donors, which it then distributes to hospitals for blood transfusions.
Program Type
Beneficiaries Served
Program Geography
Time Period of Data
Outcomes and Cost
Outcomes: Changes in the lives of those served by a nonprofit. They can be caused by the nonprofit.
Costs: The money spent by a nonprofit and its partners and beneficiaries.
Impact: Outcome caused by a nonprofit relative to its cost.
Cost-effectiveness: A judgment as to whether the cost was a good use of resources to cause the outcome.
Outcome Metric
Outcome Data Source
Ratings are based on data the nonprofit itself collects on its work. We use the most recent year with sufficient data. Typically, this data allows us to calculate direct changes in participants' lives, such as increased income.
Output data collected during the program. The nonprofit publicly reports the amount of blood it collects.
Method for Attributing Outcomes
We don't know if the observed changes were caused by the nonprofit's program or something else happening at the same time (e.g., a participant got a raise). To determine causation, we take the outcomes we observe and subtract an estimate of the outcomes that would have happened even without the program (i.e., counterfactual outcomes).
We assume a counterfactual of 0. In the U.S., there is very little blood that expires before use. This suggests that the system if functioning close to or at capacity. Additionally, the nonprofit is responsible for a large percent of the national blood supply. This means that if it were to shut down, there would be a massive disruption to the blood transfusion ecosystem.
Cost Data Source
After estimating the program's outcomes, we need to determine how much it cost to achieve those outcomes. All monetary costs are counted, whether they are borne by a nonprofit service deliverer or by the nonprofit’s public and private partners.
Program cost data reported by the nonprofit. Partner and beneficiary costs reported by the nonprofit or estimated by Charity Navigator.
Impact and Determination
We calculate impact, defined as the change in outcomes attributable to a program divided by the cost to achieve those outcomes.
Impact Statement
$670 provides an additional year of healthy life to a blood transfusion patient.
Benchmark for Rating
Impact & Results scores of blood donation programs are based on the cost of a disability-adjusted life year (DALY) averted relative to the G.D.P. per capita of the country in which the program operates. Programs receive an Impact & Results score of 100 if they avert a DALY for less than than the G.D.P. per capita, and a score of 75 if they avert a DALY for less than three times G.D.P. per capita. If a nonprofit reports impact but doesn't meet the threshold for cost-effectiveness, it earns a score of 50.
Determination
Analysis Details
Analysis conducted by ImpactMatters and published in August, 2020.
Additional Information
Unscored
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Largest Programs
American Red Cross reported its three largest programs on its FY 2020 Form 990 as:
$1,733,455,419
Spent in most recent FY
71%
Percent of program expenses
BIOMEDICAL SERVICES - SEE SCHEDULE O
$406,296,939
Spent in most recent FY
16%
Percent of program expenses
DOMESTIC DISASTER SERVICES - SEE SCHEDULE O
$122,854,114
Spent in most recent FY
5%
Percent of program expenses
TRAINING SERVICES - SEE SCHEDULE O
Leadership & Adaptability
This score provides an assessment of the organization's leadership capacity, strategic thinking and planning, and ability to innovate or respond to changes in constituent demand/need or other relevant social and economic conditions to achieve the organization's mission.
Leadership & Adaptability Score
100
out of 100
The score earned by American Red Cross is a passing score. This score has no effect on the organization's Star Rating.
Encompass Rating V4 provides an evaluation of the organization's Leadership & Adaptability through the nonprofit organization submitting a survey response directly to Charity Navigator.
Leadership & Adaptability Report
100
of 100 points
Mission
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking through articulating the organization’s mission
THE AMERICAN NATIONAL RED CROSS PREVENTS AND ALLEVIATES HUMAN SUFFERING IN THE FACE OF EMERGENCIES BY MOBILIZING THE POWER OF VOLUNTEERS AND THE GENEROSITY OF DONORS.
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Vision
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking through articulating the organization’s vision.
The American Red Cross, through its strong network of volunteers, donors and partners, is always there in times of need. We aspire to turn compassion into action so that... ...all people affected by disaster across the country and around the world receive care, shelter and hope; ...our communities are ready and prepared for disasters; ...everyone in our country has access to safe, lifesaving blood and blood products; ...all members of our armed services and their families find support and comfort whenever needed; and ...in an emergency, there are always trained individuals nearby, ready to use their Red Cross skills to save lives.
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Strategic Goals
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking and goal setting through sharing their most important strategic goals.
Goal One: Mission: Focus on areas that our employees and volunteers are passionate about, including sickle cell patients’ needs, environmental sustainability, climate change, diversity and inclusion, and more.
Goal Type: Grow, expand, scale or increase access to the existing programs and services.
Goal Two: Money: In Biomed, we continue to focus on low-cost producer strategy; In Humanitarian, we will adapt to meet climate change, grow blue sky fundraising and increase One Red Cross support.
Goal Type: New program(s) based on observed changes in needs among our constituencies/communities served.
Goal Three: People: The most significant focus of our strategic plan is investment in our most valued asset – our workforce – through wages, health care and benefits.
Goal Type: Invest in the capacity of our organization (financial, management, technical, etc.).
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Leadership Development
The nonprofit provides evidence of investment in leadership development
Describe an investment in leadership
The American Red Cross Leadership Education and Development Program, commonly known as LEAD, is an enterprise-wide leadership development program for high-performing employees interested in becoming a senior-level leader at the Red Cross. It cultivates our organization’s future leadership capacity by providing focused development opportunities for program participants to enhance individual performance.
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Mobilizing for Mission
The nonprofit provides evidence of leadership through focusing externally and mobilizing resources for the mission.
This organization mobilizes for mission in the following ways:
Strategic Partnerships
Networks of Collective Impact Efforts
Thought Leadership
Raising Awareness
Community Building
Policy Advocacy
What are this organization’s external mobilizaton efforts?
The American Red Cross has a variety of external mobilization efforts: - Local Red Cross board members partner with local Executive leaders to develop and monitor local strategies to deliver mission-related services, raise funds in accordance with the Red Cross goals, and serve as the “Face of the Red Cross” in their communities. - Red Cross Government Relations staff promotes American Red Cross priorities at all levels of government through education and advocacy. - Red Cross Disaster Cycle Services staff and volunteers help communities prepare, respond and recover from disasters big and small, working regularly with local and national partners. - Red Cross Communications and Marketing raise awareness around our missions five lines of service, and how to help.
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Story of Adaptability
The nonprofit has an opportunity to tell the story of how the organization adapted to tremendous external changes in the last year.
In the face of numerous challenges, the dedicated volunteers, employees and supporters of the American Red Cross have continued to bring our humanitarian mission to life, every day. Amid the difficult circumstances and frightening unknowns of a deadly pandemic, thousands of Red Crossers came together to do what they’ve always done—provide help and hope for people who count on us in times of crisis. Our Biomedical Services team members collected and delivered lifesaving blood and blood products for cancer patients, accident victims and others with critical medical needs, despite unpredictable demand and thousands of canceled blood drives. We developed new safety protocols to protect the health of our blood donors and workers, and we worked diligently to identify new venues for collecting blood and innovative ways to improve productivity for patients counting on us. We also faced one of the worst disaster years on record—with historic wildfires and back-to-back hurricanes, destructive tornadoes and thousands of daily emergencies like home fires. Tireless Red Cross disaster response teams provided close to 1.5 million overnight stays in hotels to families suffering in the wake of these disasters—offering food, comfort and hope to people in their darkest hours. The Red Cross also carried forward our critical work in handling emergency calls and providing support services for our nation’s military members, veterans and their families. We continued to help our sister Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies around the globe with preparedness and disease prevention training—including efforts to help stop the spread of COVID-19. And our Training Services group quickly adapted to train people in a virtual environment.
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Additional Information
Unscored
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Organization Leadership
Gail McGovern
President, CEO
Bonnie McElveen-Hunter
Chairman of the Board
Culture & Community
This score provides an assessment of the organization's engagement with the constituents it serves, a practice we term Constituent Feedback. When organizations listen to constituents, they are able to better deliver on programs and meet the needs of stakeholders. A future version of this Beacon will also assess an organization's people operations and its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) metrics.
Culture & Community Score
100
out of 100
The score earned by American Red Cross is a passing score. This score has no effect on the organization's Star Rating.
Encompass Rating V4 provides an evaluation of an organization's Culture and Community by measuring its Constituent Feedback practices (see report below). Constituent Feedback data provides 100% of the basis for the initial evaluation of the Culture & Community Beacon.
Culture & Community Report
100
of 100 points
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Constituent Feedback
Full Credit
This organization reported that it is collecting feedback.
Here's how this organization is listening and learning from the people they serve:
How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?
SMS text surveys, Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Paper surveys, Case management notes, Community meetings or town halls, Constituent (client or resident, etc.) advisory committees, Suggestion box/email
How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve
With whom does your organization share the feedback you got from the people you serve?
The people we serve, Our staff, Our board, Our funders, Our community partners
What challenges does your organization face in collecting feedback from the people you serve?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Briefly describe a recent change that your organization made in response to feedback from the people you serve.
Early on in COVID-19 we received important feedback around safety. Recently during the Black Lives Matter movement we garnered helpful feedback from employees, volunteers and partners that will improve our ongoing diversity measures. We have also implemented annual organization-wide surveys as well as regular "pulse" surveys.
Methodology
Charity Navigator believes nonprofit organizations that engage in inclusive practices, such as collecting feedback from the people and communities they serve, may be more effective. We've partnered with GuideStar by Candid to survey organizations about their feedback practices. Nonprofit organizations can fill out the How We Listen section of their Candid profile to receive a rating.
Charity Navigator awards full credit for this Beacon to every nonprofit that is eligible for an Encompass Rating that completes the survey, in recognition of their willingness to publicly share this information with the nonprofit and philanthropic communities. This data is not evaluated for quality at this time. Validation will be added in future iterations of this Beacon.
Analysis and Research
Like the overall Encompass Rating System, the Culture & Community Beacon is designed to evolve as metrics are developed and ready for integration. Our partnership with Feedback Labs and Guidestar by Candid, and other partners including Fund for Shared Insight, GlobalGiving, and Keystone Accountability, enables us to launch the first version of this beacon with Constituent Feedback information collected on Candid's site.
Feedback practices have been shown to support better Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion outcomes, an essential area of assessment that we intend to further expand and develop in the future. Feedback Labs has documented several studies which indicate that beyond achieving organizational goals, nonprofits that are attentive and responsive to concerns and ideas raised by beneficiaries establish stronger relationships with the people they serve, promote greater equity, and empower constituents in ways that can help to ensure better long-term outcomes. You can find resources to help nonprofits improve their feedback practices here.
Nonprofit Comment
Before publishing, we ask every nonprofit we can to review our work, offer corrections and provide a comment.
This nonprofit did not provide a comment