Red Kettles 2.0
This week we released The Salvation Army’s record-breaking Red Kettle Campaign results, made possible by your generous donations! (Thank you!)
The Washington Times featured a story about this today entitled, “Green Yule for virtual Salvation Army – Cyber kettle shows its mettle,” focusing on the new and unique “virtual” Red Kettle presence, including an iPhone application and the online game Coin Catch. This online presence helps us reach a larger audience and provides more opportunities for people to give back to the community.
The Salvation Army Coin Catch game, inspired by an anonymous donor in Detroit, is entertaining, free to play, and generates donations for The Salvation Army Eastern Michigan Division where state residents are struggling with the highest unemployment rates in the nation. For people who want to support a good cause but don’t have the extra funds, this program is perfect!
The goal is to catch as many falling coins as possible in a red kettle while avoiding “bad things” like mousetraps and spiders. For every coin you catch, the anonymous donor gives one penny to The Salvation Army. As you catch more money, the game will quickly pause to tell you what a positive impact your funds will have on someone in Detroit (for example, $.33 cents will buy someone a meal, and $.66 provides a baby of bottle formula for a day).
If you haven’t tried our Coin Catch Game yet, visit www.salarmycoincatch.com to test your skill and help someone in need in the process. Thank you again for your support of The Salvation Army and helping make this a record-breaking year!
2009 Red Kettle Fundraiser Fact Sheet
2009 Red Kettle Income Fact Sheet – Numbers
Salvation Army Red Kettles Set New Record!
The numbers are in, and U.S. donors contributed a record-breaking $139 million in nickels, dimes, quarters and dollars to The Salvation Army’s iconic Christmas Red Kettle Campaign this year! The results are encouraging because the generous public not only helped us reach it despite a difficult economy, but the funds are especially needed as demand for social services has skyrocketed.
“Our local Corps units are reporting demand for social services that is more than 400 percent above normal in some cases,” said Commissioner Israel L. Gaither, National Commander of The Salvation Army. “We needed help this year and Americans, as well as corporate partners responded in a big way.”
These are a few ways our corporate partners helped make a big impact for a great cause:
* Walmart and Sam’s Club:
Red Kettles located at Walmart and Sam’s Club stores accounted for as much as 29 percent of the total given. The Walmart Foundation also made a direct donation of $1.25 million.
* Kroger:
Kroger stores hosted Salvation Army Red Kettles at nearly 2,000 stores. Those donations raised approx. $11.3 million, or 8% of the campaign’s physical Red Kettle total.
* Target:
Target donated more than $1.25 million in cash and in-kind donations. They also collaborated with Hasbro, Inc. to give 5% of the purchase price of Hasbro toys bought at Target to The Salvation Army.
* JCPenney:
JCPenney and The Salvation Army launched the first-ever Online Angel Giving Tree Program. People could “adopt” Salvation Army “Angels” and deliver gifts via the Internet. Tens of thousands of children and seniors in need were adopted.
* The Weather Channel:
The Weather Channel promoted a compilation CD featuring a Salvation Army-themed single entitled, “Please Don’t Forget,” performed by Grammy Award winner Aaron Neville.
The Salvation Army also used some tech saavy methods to raise money, from a new Apple iPhone application, to Facebook and Twitter, and the Online Red Kettle. An additional $1.9 million was donated through the online Red Kettle. Other online donations totaled $9.6 million, a 5.6% increase over the $9.2 million raised in 2008.
From its humble beginnings as a fundraiser started by a Salvation Army captain in San Francisco in 1891, the Red Kettle Campaign has grown into one of the most recognizable and important charitable outreach efforts in the United States.
Thank you, America, for your generous support and making it possible for our continued service to those in need! For more information, read our press release here.
