As the global coronavirus pandemic enters a second holiday season, charities like the Salvation Army are hoping to blunt the pandemic's impact on donations.
On Wednesday, Maj. Bill Mockabee, Salvation Army area commander of Central Arkansas, spent his morning providing orientation to a group of eight soon-to-be-deployed bell ringers for the charity's Red Kettle fundraising campaign. This group of bell ringers will be paid $11 an hour to spend up to eight hours a day and six days a week ringing bells at various kettle locations.
The eight new bell ringers listened as Mockabee went through a list of things to remember, such as for those who smoke, to move at least 75 feet away from the kettle to take a smoke break, saying as an aside, "if you're a smoker this is a great day to quit."
Mockabee, an ordained minister in the Salvation Army, explained that each kettle needs to bring in at least $215 in daily donations in order to make the location feasible.
"This is a fundraising position," he explained. "The whole point of us being out there is to raise funds."
Those donations, Mockabee told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, go to fund a variety of charitable efforts that the Salvation Army is known for, including its homeless shelter, meals programs and assistance to people having difficulty paying their rent or utility bills.
"Our service to the least and those who are struggling come from our love of Christ," he said.
Paid bell ringers, Mockabee said, help augment the numbers of volunteers each year who help with the red kettle fund drive, and he said with the minimum wage increase to $11 an hour, the need for volunteers is even greater this year.
"If I filled every position we have at every bell ringing place for eight hours a day," he said, "we would be over a quarter of a million dollars in salaries for bell ringers."
Last year, Mockabee said, the Red Kettle fundraiser took in about $220,000, a drop of more than $125,000 from the $345,609 taken in during the 2019 campaign.
"We saw a huge dip," he said but added that corporate donations and year-end giving remained strong, enabling the local Salvation Army Command to pay out more than $250,000 in rental and utility assistance.
"That's a big number for us," he said.
Even so, he said, the need in Central Arkansas is so great -- especially during the pandemic -- that the charity could easily spend two or three times that amount in assistance if the funds could be raised.
The Red Kettle fundraising campaign is perhaps the most recognizable fund drive the Salvation Army does, with its iconic red kettles and bell ringers placed at store entrances to encourage passers-by to donate their change.
Mockabee told the bell-ringers-in-training about a number of do's and don'ts, such as to never actively ask for donations.
"People know why you're there," he said. "They hear the bells and see the sign, they know. Just be friendly and respectful to everyone."
As donations go into the kettle, he said, "Thank everyone who donates whether it's a penny or a $100 bill."
Mockabee told the Democrat-Gazette that fundraising for the holiday season began Nov. 1 with a kettle stationed at Bass Pro Shops in Little Rock, joined soon by locations at Hobby Lobby and Walmart stores. Beginning Friday, he said, kettles will be placed at Kroger grocery stores throughout the area.
Currently, he said, out of 70 locations where kettles could be stationed, an average of 30 are placed each day, but he expects that number to rise over the next couple of weeks as more bell ringers go through orientation.
This year's goal, he said, is $300,000. As of Tuesday, he said, $29,000 had been raised toward that goal.
The money raised, he said, goes into the local general fund to pay for rental and utility assistance, to fund the local shelter and to provide food assistance to needy families.
Of every dollar donated, Mockabee said, 84 cents goes into the Salvation Army's mission, the rest goes toward administrative costs, fundraising expenses, maintenance and other overhead.
To keep expenses down, Mockabee said he is focusing on volunteers as much as possible. To that end, he said, the Salvation Army has launched a website -- registertoring.com -- where volunteers can sign up to ring as individuals, with groups, or even as virtual ringers, asking friends and family to donate online.
According to give.org, an arm of the Better Business Bureau that examines charities, the national standard program/service expense ratio to meet for accreditation is at least 65% of funds raised going for program activities and no more than 35% spent on fundraising expenses. According to the Better Business Bureau, the Salvation Army meets the national standard in the areas it measures, including governance, measuring effectiveness, finances, and fundraising and information.
The Salvation Army's Red Kettle fundraiser will run through Dec. 24.
