Table of Contents
New Officers: Get Connected to your New Corps Appointment
Red Kettle History
In 1891, Salvation Army Captain Joseph McFee was distraught because so many poor individuals in San Francisco were going hungry. During the holiday season, he resolved to provide a free Christmas dinner for the destitute and poverty-stricken. He only had one major hurdle to overcome -- funding the project.
Register to Ring Toolkit
Quick Reference Guide: Red Kettle Season Review
How can kettle coordinators at the corps better understand their local data to optimize the bell-ringing season? Learn how many new volunteers rang for you last year, who your best individual and group ringers are, the most popular sites, and more.
Quick Reference Guide: How to Schedule Bell Ringers
Kettle coordinators at the corps can book bell ringers, and also guide volunteers to sign themselves up to bell ring.
Quick Reference Guide – How to Enter Income by Shift
Bell ringers want to know how much was raised in their kettle during their shift. This information can spark a personal motivation to book another bell-ringing shift and can also spark a health competition. This information is also important if you offer a bonus to paid bell ringers.
New officers: get connected to your new corps
Volunteer Guide: Schedule your group and manage ringers on your own
Kettle coordinators give this document to the volunteer group leader who plans to manage their group of ringers themselves. Group manager sets up Register to Ring account and serves as Group Leader for their volunteer bell ringing group.
Volunteer Guide: Schedule your group using a Group Code
Kettle coordinators give this document to the volunteer group leader who is looking to create a Group Code so that volunteers within the group can book their own individual shifts.
Quick Reference Guide: Thanking Your Volunteers in Register to Ring
Kettle coordinators at the corps can use this document to plan for thanking volunteers. Don’t wait until kettle season is over! Thanking your volunteers immediately after they ring is vital to the success of your kettle campaign. Register to Ring™ generates three types of thank-you emails, each corresponding to how (or whether) you enter kettle income. The entire process takes less than five minutes!
Volunteer Recruitment
Host an open house
A Volunteer Open House is a great way to engage the community in opportunities that are specifically offered at your Corps location.
The first course of action is to invite all local volunteers listed in Better Impact and Register to Ring, and groups and organizations within your service area to come by and see what The Salvation Army does during the Christmas season. Sending invitations out can be done by sending out an email blast through Better Impact and Register to Ring.
Contact your local newspaper to see if they would put something in print or online spread the word within your specific community.
A single classroom or Fellowship Hall set up with a few Christmas decorations, and simple snacks along with a computer for people to sign up directly for bell ringing, is all that is needed to host an Open House.
Offering tours would also be a great opportunity to show the community what happens at your local Salvation Army.
Provide handouts for anything Christmas related and give attendees a 2-inch bell as a “walk-away” gift.
Once you have the names of the people that are interested in volunteering, it is crucial that follow up phone calls are made. Making these volunteers feel needed and recognized is the key to a long-term relationship.
Engaging with Schools and the National Honor Society
In an effort to increase the number of volunteer bell ringers during the Christmas season, The Salvation Army has found it beneficial to reach out to local National Honor Societies. The students gain necessary NHS volunteer credit, and in turn more money is raised to help those in need. Below you will find sample phone and email scripts to send to schools and The National Honor Society.