SignUpGenius Saves Hundreds of Admin Hours and Empowers Thousands of Red Kettle Volunteers to Make a Greater Impact

Managing a Massive Volunteer Operation

The Salvation Army's iconic Red Kettle campaign is one of America's most recognizable charitable initiatives. Each holiday season, thousands of bell ringers stand outside stores and malls nationwide, collecting donations to fund vital year-round community services. Coordinating this massive volunteer effort presents significant logistical challenges for the Salvation Army's Eastern Territory.

"We primarily use SignUpGenius to organize our kettle volunteer efforts," explains Dustin Phillips, Territory Director of Digital Strategies for The Salvation Army USA Eastern Territory. "It's a massive effort to connect volunteers with opportunities to stand beside one of our famous Red Kettles and ring the bell."

With SignUpGenius, The Salvation Army found a solution that dramatically improved their volunteer coordination process. "It saved us hundreds of administrative hours in setting up those opportunities," Phillips emphasizes, highlighting one of the most significant benefits the product has delivered.

The Challenge: Fragmented Volunteer Management

Before implementing SignUpGenius, The Salvation Army's volunteer coordination system was fragmented and inefficient.

"Before SignUpGenius, we had some areas that didn't have a volunteer solution at all," Phillips recalls. "They were managing things through Excel spreadsheets or email; you can see how that could get messy and confusing very quickly. A lot of it was word of mouth in some local areas."

As a chapter-based organization with a complex regional structure, the Salvation Army needed a solution that could simultaneously serve its small local units, medium-sized divisions, and enterprise-level territory operations. It required something that volunteer coordinators of all technical skill levels could quickly learn and implement.

"Not everyone working as a volunteer coordinator has a high level of technical expertise," notes Phillips. "So we wanted something with a low barrier of entry for people to pick up in a short amount of time, create their opportunities, and then go about their busy holiday season."

The Solution: Streamlined Volunteer Coordination

After carefully evaluating several volunteer management platforms, The Salvation Army selected SignUpGenius as the ideal solution for their organization's unique needs.

"The price-to-value ratio of SignUpGenius was some of the best that I've seen on the market," Phillips states. "As a nonprofit that prides itself on efficiently using donor dollars, that was an opportunity for us to keep that aspect of our organization by being cost-effective while also addressing a real need."

Feature Highlights:

Mass-Creating Volunteer Shifts

The Red Kettle campaign involves coordinating volunteers across hundreds of locations, each with multiple shifts spanning many weeks in the lead-up to Christmas.

"When talking about a whole campaign season, you have hundreds of stores, each possibly having two to three bell-ringing locations, and then multiple shifts within that. You're talking about thousands of shifts," explains Phillips. "One of the most impactful features of SignUpGenius was the ability to mass-create those shifts. Instead of manually creating opportunities one at a time, you could create an opportunity template and multiply that over shifts. It saved us hundreds of administrative hours in setting up those opportunities."

Consistent Branding and Mobile Accessibility

The Salvation Army also valued SignUpGenius's branding capabilities and mobile-friendly design.

"The theming and consistency were outstanding," Phillips shares. "I liked the ability to create standardized templates of the look and feel that apply to every one of our virtual kettle opportunities. Having that brand consistency built directly into the platform was very valuable."

The platform's responsive design was crucial, as 40-60% of volunteers access online properties via mobile devices. "The interface through SignUpGenius was very mobile-friendly. It was just out-of-the-box mobile compatible."

Exceptional Customer Support

When asked about his experience with SignUpGenius's support team, Phillips had nothing but praise.

"Your support has been fantastic. Every time I reach out, I receive a response very quickly. I've never heard 'no' to a request I've made. Your support has been a highlight."

The Impact: Hassle-Free Volunteer Management

For Phillips, one of the most apparent indicators of SignUpGenius's success was the lack of complaints from local users.

"I set up the accounts, set up some basic stuff, gave them instructions, and let them go their merry way. I didn't hear much back from them, which is great in my line of work—that means everything's working. It's like that classic IT problem where you don't hear from anyone until something's gone wrong. I didn't hear much from anyone, so that was a great Christmas gift."

SignUpGenius has proven to be an effective solution for the Salvation Army's volunteer coordination challenges. It helps the organization maintain its vital community presence through the Red Kettle campaign and beyond. The platform's versatility and ease of use support its multi-level organizational structure while ensuring its iconic holiday tradition runs smoothly.

"For organizations with local areas needing volunteer coordination, it's a good solution," Phillips concludes. "It met our business requirements perfectly."