The Salvation Army – Aggressive Public Relations Outreach During the Holidays

Challenge:

The Salvation Army’s busiest time of the year is the holiday season.  Unfortunately for The Salvation Army, the 2008 holiday season came at a time when the nation was in turmoil following a sagging economy and the fear of layoffs.  The general public was worried about individual financial survival and the Memphis Area Commander for The Salvation Army feared the organization's Christmas programs would not get the financial and volunteer support needed to succeed.


Thompson&Berry Public Relations was hired to promote the Red Kettle Campaign, The Salvation Army’s largest annual fundraiser, and Angel Tree, a heartwarming program that ensures underprivileged children and seniors will receive gifts at Christmas.


The goal for each program was aggressive:

  • Reach the Red Kettle goal of $335,000.  
  • Ensure all 7,555 Angels were adopted.  


Brainwoo Thinking – The Red Kettle Strategy:

Use a TV media partner to provide updates on the Red Kettle Campaign

  • Provided TV partner with daily reports on the amount raised by the red kettles and the amount needed to reach the goal
  • Provided TV partner with access to Salvation Army clients to tell human interest stories about those who are helped by the money raised through the red kettles
  • Hosted live remote on opening day for red kettle program

Promote the Online Red Kettle as a new fun way for businesses to support The Salvation Army

  • Created a PowerPoint for Salvation Army directors to use when giving presentations to local civic groups
  • Asked fraternities and sororities to set up group online red kettles
  • Aggressive media relations

Brainwoo Thinking – the Angel Tree Strategy:

Identified ideal radio and TV partners and benefits for both parties

  • Provided media partners with daily reports on the number of Angels needed to be adopted and returned
  • Provided partners with access to Salvation Army clients who could tell human interest stories about those helped by the Angel Tree program
  • Invited TV anchors of partner to be official Angel Tree spokespeople and adopt the first Angel
  • Provided partners with constant updates on Angel Tree activities

Aggressive local media relations for opening of Angel Tree program, opening of warehouse and noteworthy contributions

  • Focused on getting a story about Angel Tree in the Commercial Appeal
  • Wrote articles for the 'My Life' section of the Commercial Appeal about Angel Tree adopters
  • Wrote press releases to announce opening of Angel Tree and results of Angel Tree

Results:

The Salvation Army had a very impressive holiday season.  The organization was the most visible non-profit organization during this time frame.

The Red Kettle goal was exceeded by 11 percent or $37,000, even though The Salvation Army had five fewer bell-ringing days then the previous year.  The Red Kettle partner, News Channel 3, mentioned The Salvation Army more than 125 times during the newscasts in November and December.  The station also created a widget showing the progress of the Red Kettles which was updated daily, ran information on the ticker, ran human interest stories about who is helped by the Red Kettle donations and had Major Mark on its Live at 9 morning show.


The Angel Tree program, despite 30 fewer corporate adopters, saw all Angels adopted four days before the end of the Angel Tree program.  The Salvation Army also saw a drop in the number of Angels who did not get returned, and an increase in donations of “forgotten Angels” or gifts donated to the program rather than to a specific child.  More than 700 volunteers helped make Angel Tree a success.  The Commercial Appeal, Memphis' daily paper, ran a story with a very compelling photo on the front page.  Following that article, The Salvation Army was inundated with calls from people asking to help and from people adopting multiple Angels. 

The media partners were generous in their promotion as well.  On radio, the partner raised money for more than 1,600 bikes, ran multiple PSAs about the bike program, aired daily updates on the numbers of Angels left to be adopted and returned and aired interviews with Angel Tree recipients.  On television, the partner covered all Angel Tree events and corporate pick up, provided 94 daily updates during the newscasts, ran updates on the ticker and Web site and the anchors adopted the first Angel.

Combined, the two programs received almost five hours of time on TV during November and December.  This is an approximate value of $183,839.  In addition to TV coverage, The Salvation Army was mentioned in 12 print articles during November and December, more than any other charity.

Salvation Army: Doing the Most Good
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quotes

“

Although personally I am quite content with existing explosives, I feel we must not stand in the path of improvement.

”
—Winston Churchill  

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