(1)Changes at the American Red Cross have led to more transparency within the agency. These changes include publishing its position on governance and ethics policy. Additionally, each board member is required to sign the Board Member Service Affirmation, which requires each member to actively participate at least 15 days per year within the organization, read the code ethics and complies with policy. Other changes include the Office of the Ombudsman office whose usage has increased since its implementation. In FY 2012, 833 constituents contacted the office compared to 354 in FY 2008 (Ombudsman, 2012). This increase reflects an increase in the number of internal problems as the office continues to raise awareness of its function of ensuring impartiality in all concerns regarding the affairs of the organization.(2)The American Red Cross has encountered a variety of problems regarding the processing of donation money. The lack of effective systems and policies has led to many missteps and opportunities for improvement. This essay will focus on issues related to 9/11 relief donations, Hurricane Katrina donations, and finally organizational appropriation of funds. First, the organization received an unprecedented amount of donations due to the September 11 attacks. As a result, a separate fund was created to attempt to track donations and expenses related to the event. Due to the lack of money management systems, less than half of the funds went to the intended victims. The remaining money was spent on improving infrastructure within the organization in anticipation of future tragedies. This angered many donors whose money did not reach the intended recipients. Second, Hurricane Katrin...... middle of document ...... ARC Ombudsman, work continues to be needed regarding standardizing requirements for transparency among nonprofit organizations nonprofit that receives government assistance. Similar approaches to the organizational structure in place at the CRA should be used in other organizations. The goal here is not to hinder the progress of existing institutions but to level the playing field for all organizations competing for donations. As the number of organizations running on donations increases, there is a limited pool of actual donations, especially in today's economy. Standardizing these organizational structures and commitments to transparency can provide greater assurance to donors that their money will be used for its intended purposes and will reach affected people who need assistance..