Philadelphia Inquirer | 05/19/2006 | A nonprofit is as good as the members of its board

Philadelphia Inquirer | 05/19/2006 | A nonprofit is as good as the members of its board: "As hurricane season nears, the issue of preparedness again confronts us. And we're not talking about the government here. We're talking nonprofits.

Last year, the Red Cross' reputation suffered along with the Gulf Coast. It was condemned for its unresponsive culture, poor communications and cursory reactions to the issues that have been looming since 9/11. And with that came more head-shaking, cynicism and disenchantment from a betrayed public.

This disillusionment isn't limited to the American Red Cross, nor are the abuses. The former CEO of United Way of New York City was recently found to have misused organizational assets. And another United Way CEO resigned after accusations of theft. These are just a couple of the scandals to tarnish the good works of the nearly 1.5 million nonprofits in the country - and more than 20,000 in this region."

Tags: Disaster preparadness, Red Cross, United Way, Board governance