There are down votes to comments suggesting that it is "pure rent seeking". And I see why, people think that there is no obvious financial interest for them.

There are down votes to comments suggesting that it is "pure rent seeking". And I see why, people think that there is no obvious financial interest for them. But think again deeper about that, they are often selling their own brand. For example, in a lot of places, they are asking donations exchanging them with red cross stickers that they put on cars. For some people it is a status symbol to have this sticker on their cars as it is a signal that "they are generous". And, as said otherwise, the red cross recent history is plagued with waste of money and very bad management.