Kettles.101 Guide for a successful Kettle campaign
8 Creative Ways To Make Your Kettles More Successful! 1. Divisional Kettle Blitz Day
For more information, contact Craig Evans, Craig.Evans@use.salvationarmy.org
The Divisional Kettle Blitz is a one-day competition among corps throughout the division to create interest and income with our kettle efforts.
• The event is an opportunity to increase corps visibility, attract media coverage and inspire support from your community. With the natural lag during the middle of the kettle season and fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, a promotional event such as a Kettle Blitz has the potential to keep fundraising momentum going and, hopefully, have a significant impact on money raised this season. • Consider a Divisional Grant: Every corps who fully participates in the blitz could receive a $1,000.00 grant from Divisional Headquarters.
• Consider grants for the top corps: In addition, the corps with the highest total raised at the self-assigned kettle stand that day would receive an additional cash award! In order to keep this process fair for corps of all sizes, base the contest on the highest percentage raised of your own approved Red Kettle Campaign budgeted goal. The top three awards to the top corps could be: First Place Second Place Third Place
$2,000.00 $1,000.00 $500.00
• The following criteria are required in order to benefit from the divisional grant.
1. Funds raised
2. Advisory board participation, support from service clubs or community groups
3. Local media coverage
4. Submit photographs of participants at kettle to DHQ for internal and external use.
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• The Kettle Blitz should take place throughout the division on one assigned day in early December. Corps would submit location to the Development Department to be included in the divisional press release to respective media outlets. Corps officers should also promote the day locally. During the Blitz corps may want to be creative such as having mascots cover the kettle, engage local government officials, and encourage Advisory Board members to get involved or have a high school choir sing.
2. Pre-Season Volunteer Reception
For more information, contact Kathy Orfitelli, Kathy.Orfitelli@use.salvationarmy.org
Host a brunch or lunch to recognize volunteers, community leaders, and businesses for their past support, and have attendees sign up for kettles. Track how many times people have participated and recognize them for their service. • Hold a reception (Service Units) in mid-November for two hours.
• Try to get a hall and food donated.
• Invite prior volunteers and representatives from government and community organizations.
• In advance of the reception, invite the local newspaper to come to a planning meeting and take a photo of the committee for publication of the event and to invite the community at large to attend the reception to attract new volunteers.
• Have a representative speak about services provided and highlight statistics for the previous year’s activity to show the volunteers what we can accomplish because of them.
• Have attendees sign up for time and location they want to ring in two-hour time slots.
• Ask Local service organizations to give their checks up front.
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3. 24 Hour Kettle Event
For more information, contact Captain Alan Kreuger, Alan.Kreuger@use.salvationarmy.org
Stand at a kettle for 24 hours. Held on the last Friday before Christmas from 7PM – Saturday 7PM. • Begin planning this event in October. Consider your best Kettle location for the event. (EMP did it at Walmart.) Local store gave $1,000 check at the beginning of the event. • Find a match for the kettle.
• Engage Advisory Board members, perhaps taking an hour and bringing their friends. • Consider a local celebrity bellringer every hour. Politicians, musicians, sports heroes, etc. Have photos taken with the Divisional Commander.
• Involve newspaper and radio stations (Could raise $25,000 or more + match).
4. $20 Challenge Day
For more information, contact Lt.-Colonel Cindy Foley, Cindy.Foley@usn.salvationarmy.org The $20 Challenge was organized across the Golden State Division as follows:
Across the division we were able to increase our kettle income by sixty percent in one day by encouraging people to put a $20 bill in the kettle instead of their usual gift. The value of the $20 bill is increased by securing a challenge gift in every community to increase the value of every $20 bill that is donated. Depending upon the size of the match gift, a single $20 donation might be doubled, tripled, or even quadrupled in value. We encouraged every corps and service extension unit to hold the event on the same day to both simplify and maximize the media effect of our efforts. The results were exciting. We raised $85,596 in 2016 and increased the fundraising total on the same day in 2017 to $214,499.
• February: We asked every corps officer and donor relations director (DRD) to work together to identify a matching gift(s) in their community to encourage people to give a $20 bill that would essentially be multiplied into a larger gift. Twenty-six of our thirty corps were able to solicit a local match valued from $250 to $16,000.
• September: We provided an adaptable flyer to every corps and service extension unit to share with their constituents to advertise the $20 Challenge Day. We added emphasis and support to the event by including it in a oneday kettle training event for officers, advisory board members, and kettle coordinators. This is not necessary but was included as part of a year-long effort to strengthen the volunteer program and Red Kettle Campaigns throughout the division.
• November/December: DHQ provided a media release to every unit to help with media support from radio, television, and print media outlets. The Divisional Communication Director supported this effort by contacting the major television stations in the five major media markets. Corps officers and advisory board members followed up with local television and radio affiliates.
• Early December: Follow up with every corps officer and (DRD) to finalize the match gifts, encourage the key local organizers, and provide support for proper recording of the match gifts and regular kettle donations in the Kettle Program database. Every unit created a site in the Kettle Worker Program called the $20 Challenge Match kettle. The funds raised from the match gifts were put into this kettle in order to allow the funds to be registered with their total income in the Kettle Worker Program reports. Promotional sign templates were distributed to encourage the corps to advertise the $20 Challenge Day on every kettle during the week leading up to the event.
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8 Creative Ways To Make Your Kettles More Successful! • After the Event: We sent out a simple survey to collect the data on the total raised in $20 bills, total raised in match gifts, and the fundraising total for the day. Collecting this data helps us to analyze how the money was raised and gives us a comparison for future events.
• It requires a cheerleader who cares and is invested in the success of the initiative!
5. Corporate Kettle Sponsorships & Kettle Kick-Off
For more information, contact Andy Junn, Andy.Junn@use.salvationarmy.org
Share with local companies an opportunity for them to get great visibility at a kettle stand of their choice for a $500 - $1,500 investment. • Board Driven Effort to secure $1,000 sponsorships from area businesses, organizations, and in some cases, individuals. The success of the program is credited to the effort of the board members. Each member volunteers to reach out to a number of their contacts. The Corps writes a letter that is signed by both the Officer & the Board Chair. Then the board members will print the letter and write a personal note and mail it to their contacts. Of the 50-60 sponsors, less than 10 are board member gifts. Most sponsors are companies outside of The Salvation Army that the board member contacted.
6. Kettle Kick-Off
For more information, contact Andy Junn, Andy.Junn@use.salvationarmy.org
Change annual dinner to Kettle Kick-off.
• This has shown success for getting people involved.
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• The sponsorship (referenced in #5) culminates in a Kettle Kick-Off where all sponsors are celebrated and thanked for their participation. It is a breakfast event attended by other influencers in the community, many of which end up making financial contributions at the event. Raised $70,000 + from the event.
7. Battle of the Bells
For more information, contact Kathy AndersonMartin, Kathy.Anderson-Martin@use.salvationarmy.org
Work with area Realtors, Banks, Rotaries, VFW’s, Eagles, and Kiwanis groups to volunteer to stand at a kettle and create a competition between groups.
• Check out Battleofthebells.com - Harrisburg, PA Competition between the corps or groups
Teams are registered to raise $ during the season.
Live kettle, desktop kettle, on-line
Offer special recognition at the end of the season for those that raised the most. Recognize the champions.
8. Host a Third-Party Fundraiser For more information, contact Andy Junn, Andy.Junn@use.salvationarmy.org
Ask organizations or companies to host a fun event that can raise dollars to benefit The Salvation Army.
• Motorcycle runs, golf outings, clam bakes, holiday gift wrapping service, raffle sales, 5K Run / Walk or similar fitness challenge, dinner parties, and garage sales are all great ways to get started.
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Bellringer Recruitment Ideas Suggested Groups To Approach
• Chamber of Commerce or Better Business Bureau get their list of businesses and reach out to each • Churches
• Firefighters and EMTs • VFW
• Shriners
• Masonic Lodge
• Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts
• Local Professional Organizations Bar Associations, Network of Executive Women (NEW), American Marketers Associations, Young Professionals Groups, etc.
• National Honor Society – Reach out to local high schools
• High school clubs such as: Interact- Rotary sponsored high school club Key Club - Kiwanis sponsored high school club Young Women’s Leadership Clubs
Tips And Ideas For Working With Organizations And Corporations
• Consider asking a group to organize your entire Red Kettle Campaign. Could be Rotary, a bank or other organization or business. • Make it personal! Personal connections are best when recruiting individuals or organizations.
• Ask them to sponsor a Fundraise for Good Peer-to-Peer Campaign. They can do this at FundraiseForGood.org.
• Ask them to keep a kettle at the workplace. Set a “deadline” to serve as a concrete “call to action” and create a sense of urgency for employees to give.
• Ask them to write a sizable check and deposit it in a kettle in the community. Depending on the amount, consider partnering with the divisional development team to publicize the donation.
• Ask them to organize employee volunteers to give their time in pairs or mini groups. Recruitment should take place months prior. Give the company information about The Salvation Army and how volunteerism of this kind can be beneficial to the company.
• Ask them, toward the end of the season, to donate the remaining amount required for your corps to meet its kettle goal.
• Get an early start and then stay connected! Start connecting with store managers months prior to the kettle season, when you will ask to put kettles outside the stores.
Managers of stores should be presented with a contract and cell phone numbers of the corps officers or kettle coordinators for urgent needs.
• Ask service clubs to cover a certain number of hours at a kettle.
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Bellringer Recruitment Ideas Special Guests and Events To Drive Excitement and Publicity
• Companies Consider challenging two companies to compete against each other on a certain day to see which can raise the most. The involved companies will typically put their own time and effort behind promoting the kettles, in the spirit of winning (for a good cause!). • Radio and TV Stations Have media companies compete against one another for who can raise the most money at a kettle. They can drive engagement with a live remote from the kettle stand. Encourage them to participate in a Peerto-Peer Campaign that can be shared out on their social media channel to engage their active Facebook followers. • Music Groups Salvation Army bands and singers or other music groups.
• Community Leaders Mayor, governor, town leadership, etc.
• Local Celebrities Sports talent, radio and TV talent, etc.
• Give out a “Community Ding-a-Ling Award” Hold a competition among all volunteer groups and give an award to the group that raises the most (Could be Ring Ding Award or other creative name)
• High School Groups Consider a competition between schools
• Realty groups Realtor Ring Day or Real Estate Wednesday – engage realtors in a competition to raise the most.
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Red Kettle Campaign Calendar JANUARY
• Kettle pick up & store thank you Visit stores to pick up any remaining kettle assets. Thank store managers for their support with a personalized thank you card and small gift. Ask for feedback and leave your business card.
• Volunteer appreciation Host a fun celebration for your kettle volunteers to thank them for their efforts throughout the Kettle Season.
• Post-season analysis Review your locations and volunteer/paid workers to determine which sites were the most profitable, best ringing hours and other lessons learned. Keep notes to help with the next campaign planning. • Announce kettle results with a press release. • Review kettle calendar and plan for the rest of year.
FEBRUARY
• Volunteer contact information Review your process for capturing existing and ongoing volunteer contact information. Ensure all records are updated from most recent kettle season.
• Form an advisory board kettle committee. If one already exists, review last year and begin discussions on the next campaign.
MARCH
• Create a kettle plan Including goals for income and volunteer hours. Locations, hours, volunteer schedule. Utilize last year as a guide for planning.
APRIL
• Contact local organizations, groups and clubs to schedule times to make presentations on volunteering over the course of the summer.
• Kettle kick-off - select date and secure venue.
• Share kettle kick-off date with DHQ for calendar.
JUNE
• Set up kettle campaign in red kettle worker program.
• Consider other opportunities to engage local business as sponsors or volunteers.
• Review special event ideas and opportunities.
• Reach out to local realtors for real estate Wednesdays or Realtor Ring Day. Ask to be included in realtor newsletters and social media.
• Set up scheduling software – Red Kettle Volunteer or other scheduling software.
JULY
• Reach out to store managers and secure approval for new local partnerships and to reconfirm existing partnerships. Continue to work with DRDs to engage local businesses and donors (ongoing).
• Contact local organizations to consider volunteering for bell ringing. Utilize ideas such as competitions, entertainment, music, celebrity bellringers (see bell ringer recruitment ideas).
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Red Kettle Campaign Calendar AUGUST
• Inventory kettle supplies and order anything that needs replacing
• Approach schools about potential interschool competitions and other ways to engage students.
• Continue engaging churches, businesses, service groups, and other community-based opportunities.
• Ensure volunteer contact list is updated and share with divisional volunteer manager or other staff as appropriate.
SEPTEMBER
• Make sure all supplies are ordered from trade.
• Add kettle kick-off event to website, if applicable. • Connect with schools about groups to volunteer at kettles.
• Follow up with community organizations to secure dates, times, and training for volunteers.
OCTOBER
• Deliver kettle stands and other supplies to stores (where permitted per guidelines in Kettle Agreements).
• Hold volunteer orientation(s). Provide written information about The Salvation Army expectations from volunteers. Include 12 tips for better bell ringing in English and Spanish.
• Hold orientation for seasonal employees. Provide written information about The Salvation Army expectations from employees. Include 12 tips for better bell ringing in English and Spanish.
• Continue volunteer recruitment campaign through social, email, and newsletters.
• Promote kettle kick off through local media.
• Hold kettle kick off. • Begin campaign.
• Promote selected creative ideas/events.
• Promote campaign through web and social media.
• Monitor location and worker performance and make adjustments as needed.
Implement social media bellringer recruitment campaign.
• Send thank you emails to volunteers.
• Schedule volunteer orientation (for early November).
• Continue volunteer recruitment campaign through social, email, and newsletters.
• Contact store managers to share national contracts (where applicable) as they come in.
• Schedule volunteer recruitment campaign through social, email, and newsletters.
• Review information from Finance to ensure that deposit accounts and processes are up to date.
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NOVEMBER
DECEMBER
• Continue to monitor location and worker performance and adjust as needed.
• Continue sending thank you emails to volunteers. • End campaign.
• Ensure all kettle income is recorded and any adjustments made (complete before December 31st).
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