Red Cross Response to Deficit

No use kicking the Red Cross when it's down -- kinda been down a while and been kicked plenty...

Today's newspapers reported that the Red Cross National Headquarters would be making a big layoff thanks to a big deficit - this is sad indeed and certainly complicates the struggles the Red Cross has faced over the past few years. 

One quote from the Chronicle of Philanthropy via the Chicago Sun Times caught my attention: Stacy Palmer, editor of the Chronicle of Philanthropy, said “the woes of the Red Cross have caused some frustration throughout the nonprofit sector.

"When something's amiss at the Red Cross, it reflects on the whole charity world."

Now this is an interesting statement.  Is the Red Cross really a barometer for the nonprofit sector?  As goes Red Cross goes the sector? 

I don't believe that folks in the nonprofit sector wind their clock around the Red Cross -- woes or successes.  If you tell me they wind their clock around what happens at Gates or Ford or MacArthur and around big and small donors affected by the economy, I think that would be accurate but Red Cross -- no -- the Red Cross is not a bell weather for the times unless you want to talk about the need for stronger governance and management -- now that's something folks might follow...