Public confidence in Chinese charities tested

Global Business

China’s Red Cross Society is facing suspicion of its credibility with the public.

After a scandal that saw a woman claiming to hold a senior position at the charity, public trust in the Red Cross has dwindled despite latest police investigations showing no evidence of major wrongdoing or corruption by the organization.

CCTV America’s Han Peng reports.

For decades, China’s Red Cross volunteers were the angels on frontlines of disaster relief missions, extending help and hope.

Funding to the Red Cross comes largely from donations, much of it from the public that places trust into the organization, believing that it enacts goodwill for society. But the charity found itself in a fix recently when it began asking for donations in the recent wake of the earthquake in Yunnan’s Ludian.

Since 2011, a young woman by the name of Guo Meimei, who flashed an ostentatious lifestyle on social media, claimed herself as the commercial manager of China’s Red Cross. In a highly controversial televised confession after authorities detained her on grounds of illegal gambling, Guo apologized for falsification of association to the Red Cross. But the damage has been done to the public trust for China’s Red Cross.

For more on the global charity issue, CCTV America spoke to Doug White, author of “Abusing Donor Intent” and a nonprofit expert who directs the fundraising management program at Columbia University.