What enabled the american red cross to outdo all other charitable organizations in collecting donations for the hurricane katrina recovery effort?

The Red Cross relies on its extensive chapter network as

its first level of response to disasters. This backbone of more than 800 chapters allows the Red Cross to respond quickly to disasters anywhere in the country, with a cadre of locally trained volunteers, also, the Red Cross has a large and strong partnership with several wealthy organizations who make the donation when needed.

It should also be noted that the Red Cross has people, systems and plans in place to respond to disasters.