Red Cross Spent $500,000 in 3 Years To Boost Its Profile--WaPo

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/26/AR2006022601247.html?referrer=email&referrer=email&referrer=email


Consultants Paid To Lure Stars, Showcase CEO to Help Raise Funds

By Jacqueline L. Salmon and Gilbert M. Gaul
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, February 27, 2006; Page A08

The American Red Cross paid consultants more than $500,000 in the past three years to pitch its name in Hollywood, recruit stars for its "Celebrity Cabinet" and brand its chief executive as the face of the Red Cross -- just a year before ousting her, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post.

In a $127,000 contract, a Houston corporate image company agreed to create a plan to make Red Cross chief executive Marsha J. Evans the face of the organization as part of a "senior leadership branding project" that ran from October 2003 to November 2004.


At the same time, Evans was laying off workers at the Red Cross's blood-services operations and at its Washington headquarters, as well as eliminating merit pay and limiting travel in a bid to cut millions from the national headquarters' budget.

A $3 billion charity, the Red Cross has stumbled in recent years, drawing criticism for its performance after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina in the fall. Its leadership structure is under investigation in Congress. And in the past seven years, it has churned through five acting or permanent chief executives.

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