Salvation Army Boosts End of Year Marketing with Digital Campaign
According to a recent article in The Chronicle of Philanthropy, charities in the U.S. have weathered a significant drop in giving this year. Most nonprofits are hoping for a holiday miracle, but a recent survey cited in the article shows they will probably see a decrease in year-end generosity. In fact, a study conducted by Harris Interactive shows that in light of the downturn in the economy, only 38 percent of Americans say they are more likely to give a charitable gift as a holiday present this year, compared to 49 percent last year.
Given this expected downturn in end of the year donations, which are often a critical source of revenue for nonprofits, these organizations are rethinking their marketing efforts during the holiday season. In fact, some nonprofits have completely changed their traditional advertising and marketing campaigns, and boosted their digital and direct marketing campaigns for the holiday season. One organization that is leading this change is the Salvation Army.
The Salvation Army typically centered a lot of its holiday marketing around radio advertising—but not this year. This budget has been pulled and assigned to online communications, according to George Hood, national community relations and development secretary for the organization. This week, the annual Red Kettle Campaign will launch across the country, as bell-ringing volunteers will hit the streets outside select retail locations for the holiday season. In addition to its traditional Red Kettles, Salvation Army is re-launching an Online Red Kettle. Through this virtual kettle, visitors can set donation goals and encourage their friends and family to make donations.
According to Hood, this is the sixth year the organization is using the virtual kettle; however, this year, the organization is heavily promoting it through online banner ads. The promotions are running through largely trafficked news sites such as CNN, Fox News and MSNBC. The organization also runs ads on portals such as Yahoo and AOL, and through sites that the Salvation Army has corporate partnerships with such as Target, Walmart and JCPenney.
In addition to online ads on JCPenney’s Web site, the organizations teamed up to create an online Angel Giving Tree program. This program is traditionally executed in retail and other business locations, and now Web users now can give an angel — or needy child — a gift virtually. Since the program’s launch on November 3, the Salvation Army has listed 125,000 children’s profiles on JCP.com/angel. Since the launch, more than 19,000 angels have been chosen, according to Hood.
“We’re fascinated that we’ve seen such a great response, even before Thanksgiving,” said Hood. “We’re expecting a heavy onslaught of donations on [cyber] Monday, when there’s typically heavy online shopping.”
A Salvation Army bell-ringing iPhone app is also launching this week. Proceeds from the 99-cent app will go to Salvation Army. Hood explained that when users shake their iPhone, they will hear the familiar sound of a bell used by those in-store ringers. The app also links directly to the Salvation Army’s donation Web page.
Hood claims that for “years and years” the Salvation Army was using direct mail as its primary channel for new donor acquisition, but now online community building has proved more effective. “The ROI is much more superior online than off,” he added. “We see this happening as the general public gets more comfortable making donations online.”
In addition to a strong Web site and app presence, the Salvation Army launched social media initiatives about eight months ago. These initiatives include a strong presence on Facebook, with 7,771 fans to date, and @SalvationArmy has more than 2,000 followers on Twitter.
Hood explained that, like many nonprofits, the Salvation Army’s donor base is “aging out,” which is why it’s so important to target younger audiences through digital channels. “As new generations are coming in, building relationships online is key,” he said. “The challenge is converting new and younger donors through online strategies.”
