The American Red Cross is a humanitarian organization that operates across five main service areas: disaster relief, blood services, training and certification, support for military families, and international aid. Volunteers make up 90 percent of its workforce, and about 91 cents of every dollar donated goes directly to programs and services.
Disaster Relief
Disaster response is the most visible part of what the Red Cross does. When hurricanes, wildfires, floods, tornadoes, and house fires hit communities, the Red Cross provides shelter, food, and financial assistance to affected families. The organization holds a formal leadership role in the federal disaster response framework, meaning it coordinates directly with government agencies during large-scale emergencies.
Most of the disasters the Red Cross responds to aren’t headline events. Home fires account for the majority of its responses. Trained volunteers deploy to affected neighborhoods to help families find temporary housing, replace essential items like medications and clothing, and connect with longer-term recovery resources. During larger disasters, the Red Cross sets up shelters, distributes meals, and sends mental health workers to support people dealing with trauma and loss.
Blood Collection and Distribution
The Red Cross provides about 40 percent of the nation’s blood and blood components, all collected from volunteer donors. That blood supply supports hospitals for surgeries, cancer treatments, trauma care, and chronic conditions like sickle cell disease. Maintaining a steady supply requires constant donation because blood products have a limited shelf life: red blood cells last about 42 days, and platelets only five.
The organization runs blood drives in communities across the country and operates permanent donation centers. Its free Blood Donor app lets you find nearby drives, schedule appointments, complete pre-donation health screening questions ahead of time, and get notifications when your blood is on its way to a patient.
Training and Certification
The Red Cross is one of the largest providers of health and safety training in the country. Its courses cover CPR and automated external defibrillator (AED) use, first aid, basic life support for healthcare workers, lifeguarding, swimming and water safety, babysitting, and caregiving. Many of these certifications are OSHA-compliant, which is why employers across industries require them for workplace safety.
Courses are available in person, online, or as a blend of both. The Red Cross also offers group training solutions for businesses that need to certify multiple employees at once. Certifications typically need to be renewed every one to two years depending on the course.
Support for Military Families
The Red Cross has a long-standing relationship with the U.S. military, providing services to active-duty members, veterans, and their families. The most critical of these is emergency communications. When a family crisis happens, such as a serious illness, a death, or a birth, the Red Cross verifies the situation and delivers the message to service members through its Hero Care Network. This service runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and is free and confidential. It’s often the only way to reach a service member deployed in a remote location quickly enough for them to get emergency leave.
Beyond emergency messaging, the Red Cross connects eligible military families with financial assistance for things like emergency travel, food, and shelter. It works alongside military aid societies that determine eligibility and provide the funding. The organization also runs free resiliency workshops led by licensed mental health professionals, including programs specifically for children and teens that teach coping and communication skills. Its Military and Veteran Caregiver Network pairs caregivers of wounded, ill, or aging service members with peer support and training.
International Humanitarian Aid
The American Red Cross is part of the world’s largest humanitarian network, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Its international services team helps communities in other countries prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters like earthquakes, droughts, and health epidemics. A major focus is childhood vaccination. Since 2001, the Red Cross has helped vaccinate over 2 billion children through measles and rubella campaigns worldwide.
International work also includes helping communities build resilience before disasters strike, training local responders, and improving access to clean water and sanitation in vulnerable regions.
Free Emergency Apps
The Red Cross maintains several free mobile apps designed to help people before, during, and after emergencies. The Emergency app provides National Weather Service alerts, live weather maps, short preparedness guides, and a locator for open Red Cross shelters nearby. It also includes tools for building a family emergency plan and checklists for assembling supply kits. Separate apps exist for specific hazards like hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods, each with safety tips tailored to that type of event.
How the Organization Is Funded and Staffed
The Red Cross is not a government agency. It’s a nonprofit that relies on donations, fundraising, and revenue from services like blood collection and training courses. According to CharityWatch, 91 percent of its cash budget goes to programs rather than overhead costs like fundraising and administration, based on fiscal year 2024 data.
Volunteers are the backbone of the organization. Nine out of every ten people working for the Red Cross are unpaid volunteers who do everything from staffing shelters and driving supply vehicles to teaching CPR classes and answering calls at the Hero Care Network. The organization is led by President and CEO Cliff Holtz, with strategic oversight from a Board of Governors that guides its humanitarian mission.