The Salvation Army’s red donation kettles, often manned by a volunteer bell ringer, are a familiar sight across the United States during the five weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve.
First used in San Francisco in 1891, the kettle—now a sturdy bucket with a lid and padlock—has long been a principal fundraising tool for the evangelical Christian organization’s local outposts, called “corps,” following the military terminology used since the organization’s founding.
In 2024, the kettles brought in $99.5 million nationwide, a small share of the estimated $4 billion to $6 billion The Salvation Army raises annually in the United States through donations, grants, and other fundraising efforts….