The Salvation Army

The Salvation Army is an international evangelical Christian movement and charitable organization founded in London in 1865 by William Booth and Catherine Booth. It began as the East London Christian Mission, serving people living in poverty and presenting Christian preaching alongside practical aid. Its military-style terminology, uniforms, ranks, bands, and territorial administration were developed to organize an expanding ministry that sought to reach people outside established churches. The movement adopted the name The Salvation Army in the 1870s and subsequently developed an international structure under territorial and regional commands. Although commonly recognized through its red collection kettles, bell-ringing volunteers, uniformed officers, and thrift stores, the organization is broader than a resale operation. Its stated mission combines evangelism with meeting human needs without discrimination. Programs vary by country and community but may include emergency food and rent assistance, shelters, transitional housing, addiction recovery, employment and family services, youth programs, senior services, community centers, spiritual care, and disaster response. The organization reports a presence in 134 countries and says its services reach millions of people each year. In the United States, The Salvation Army operates through a territorial and divisional system, with local corps and community centers delivering services. Its retail network, branded The Salvation Army Thrift Stores, accepts donated clothing, furniture, household goods, books, and other usable items. Proceeds from donated goods support local programs and, in the United States, are specifically used to help fund Adult Rehabilitation Centers. The resale model gives the organization a recurring funding channel while also extending the useful life of goods and providing low-cost merchandise to shoppers. Fundraising is anchored by the annual Red Kettle Christmas Campaign, which places volunteer bell ringers and collection kettles near retail locations during the holiday season. The campaign has expanded into online kettles, digital advertising, social media, corporate partnerships, mobile experiences, and targeted appeals. Other fundraising and awareness campaigns connect donations with concrete outcomes, such as shelter, food, recovery services, or assistance for families facing hardship. The organization has modernized its communications while retaining a strongly recognizable identity based on service, faith, volunteerism, and local presence. In the United States it appointed LERMA/ as agency of record in 2021 for advertising, public relations, and digital fundraising. Subsequent work has included joyful holiday-giving messaging, digital fundraising on Snapchat, and creative designed to reach people needing services as well as potential donors. In 2026, The Salvation Army's Western Territory was presented as a participant in an AI-enabled retail campaign that used recently sold one-of-a-kind thrift items to create urgency and encourage store visits. The Salvation Army is not a listed commercial company and does not have a public stock ticker. Its international movement and national legal entities operate as nonprofit religious and charitable organizations. Because governance is territorial and leadership titles vary by jurisdiction, the global organization should not be treated as a conventional corporate parent of every local Salvation Army entity. Its best-known consumer-facing commercial activity is the thrift-store network, but that activity is subordinate to the organization's religious and social-service mission.

The Salvation Army traces its origins to the East London Christian Mission, established in 1865 by William Booth, a Methodist minister, and Catherine Booth. The mission addressed poverty and religious exclusion in London's East End by combining preaching with practical assistance. Its early work was deliberately oriented toward people who were unlikely to attend conventional churches, including people experiencing homelessness, unemployment, addiction, and severe material hardship. The movement adopted an increasingly organized and distinctive structure during the 1870s. It used military language and organization to coordinate evangelistic work, and it became known as The Salvation Army. William Booth served as its first General, while Catherine Booth was a major theological and organizational influence. Uniformed officers, open-air meetings, brass bands, publishing, and disciplined local corps helped the movement expand rapidly. The approach treated social action and religious ministry as connected rather than separate activities. Expansion beyond Britain followed during the late nineteenth century. The Salvation Army established work in other countries through officers and local movements, creating a territorial system that allowed national organizations to administer churches, fundraising, and social programs within a common international framework. The organization eventually developed a presence across much of Europe, North America, Australasia, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Its international identity remained centralized in doctrine and broad governance but operationally adapted to local needs and laws. In the United States, the organization became associated with disaster relief, Christmas fundraising, shelters, food assistance, and other forms of community support. The Red Kettle Christmas Campaign became one of its most recognizable public traditions: volunteers collect donations outside stores and public locations during the holiday period. The campaign has been supplemented by online kettles, corporate partnerships, mobile tools, social media, and digital advertising. This evolution has allowed the organization to preserve a highly visible in-person ritual while adding measurable online donation channels. Thrift stores became another important part of the U.S. operating and fundraising model. Donated clothing, furniture, household goods, books, and other items are sorted and sold through The Salvation Army Thrift Stores. The proceeds help support programs including Adult Rehabilitation Centers, which provide residential recovery services for people dealing with substance-use disorders. The stores also serve shoppers seeking affordable goods and contribute to reuse by keeping usable products in circulation. The Salvation Army's service portfolio has continued to broaden. Depending on location, programs include emergency food and financial assistance, shelters and transitional housing, homelessness services, addiction recovery, youth development, senior support, disaster response, community meals, utility assistance, and spiritual care. The organization emphasizes local delivery through corps, area commands, divisions, and community centers. Administrative consolidation has periodically been used to pool expertise and resources, as in the formation of California South in 2018 and the Northwest Indiana Area Command in 2022. In the twenty-first century, the organization has invested more heavily in communications and digital fundraising. Its 2021 appointment of LERMA/ as U.S. agency of record reflected an effort to modernize public relations, advertising, and donor engagement. Campaigns such as Give with Joy connected holiday giving with positive emotion, while service-oriented advertising directed people in need toward shelters, food banks, and recovery resources. In 2023, Snapchat advertising extended holiday fundraising to a younger digital audience. A 2026 campaign developed with BarkleyOKRP and presented through Google's creative-AI materials used images of recently sold thrift goods to emphasize the one-of-one nature of resale inventory and encourage immediate store visits. Today, The Salvation Army remains both a church and a major international social-service network. It is not a conventional corporate brand: local and national entities have their own legal and administrative arrangements, and the international movement is organized through territories rather than a public-company holding structure. Its consumer-facing thrift operation is therefore best understood as one funding and community-access channel within a larger faith-based nonprofit system.

1. 2023First reported Snapchat advertising campaign

   The organization used Snapchat advertising for holiday fundraising and later increased investment based on campaign performance.

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2. 2022Northwest Indiana Area Command established

   Lake and Porter county operations were combined into a new area command.

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3. 2021LERMA/ appointed U.S. agency of record

   The U.S. organization selected LERMA/ for integrated advertising, public relations, and digital fundraising work.

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4. 2018California South Division created

   Southern California and Sierra Del Mar divisions were reunified into a larger California South Division.

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5. 1878The Salvation Army name adopted

   The movement adopted its Salvation Army identity and developed the military-style structure that became central to its public character.

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6. 1865East London Christian Mission founded

   William Booth founded the mission in London's East End to combine Christian preaching with practical service to people facing poverty and exclusion.

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A faith-based, service-oriented nonprofit that links evangelism, community assistance, and volunteer action. Its thrift stores position donated goods as a practical route to funding rehabilitation and local social services, while its wider brand emphasizes immediate help, dignity, local accessibility, and year-round support.

• The Salvation Army Thrift Storesapparel-resale

  A network of donation-based resale stores offering second-hand clothing, furniture, household goods, books, appliances, and miscellaneous merchandise. In the United States, proceeds from donated goods support Adult Rehabilitation Centers and related social services. The stores combine low-cost retail access, reuse, volunteer involvement, and fundraising for the broader Salvation Army mission.

• Adult Rehabilitation Centersaddiction-recovery-services

  Residential recovery and rehabilitation services for people dealing with substance-use disorders. In the U.S. thrift-store model, donated-goods revenue is directed toward supporting these centers and their rehabilitation programs.

• Red Kettle Christmas Campaignholiday-fundraising

  The Salvation Army's signature seasonal fundraising program, featuring volunteer bell ringers and collection kettles at retail and public locations. The campaign also includes online donation tools and digital advertising intended to help local communities during the holiday season and beyond.

• Emergency Disaster Servicesdisaster-relief

  Emergency-response work that can include meals, hydration, emotional and spiritual care, supplies, and support for communities affected by disasters. Delivery is organized through local and territorial Salvation Army structures.

• 2026The Thrift That Got Away

  United States

  Developed with BarkleyOKRP, the campaign used AI-assisted creative production and recently sold thrift items rather than available inventory. It framed the loss of a one-of-one find as a reason to visit a store quickly.

  Outcome. The campaign was presented as a way to turn out-of-stock inventory into store traffic and to make scarcity the central creative idea.

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• 2023Snapchat holiday fundraising

  United States

  The organization used Snap Ads featuring families and children to encourage support for local families during the holiday period, then increased spending and applied more detailed conversion measurement.

  Outcome. Snapchat reported 43.2 million impressions, a 1.5-times increase in return on advertising spend, and a 22.3 percent decrease in cost per click.

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• 2021LERMA/ partnership

  United States

  The Salvation Army USA appointed LERMA/ to modernize advertising, public relations, and digital fundraising communications.

  Outcome. The partnership supported subsequent holiday, social, and digital campaigns.

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• 2010Service-access advertising

  United States

  A U.S. advertising initiative placed unconventional messages in public spaces to direct people experiencing homelessness, food insecurity, or addiction toward nearby Salvation Army services.

  Outcome. The campaign emphasized reaching prospective service users rather than focusing only on donor acquisition.

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• 2009Red Kettle Christmas Campaign and Online Kettle

  United States

  The annual bell-ringing campaign was supported by an expanded online kettle, banner advertising, corporate partnerships, and a mobile donation experience. The U.S. organization shifted some traditional radio spending toward online communications.

  Outcome. The campaign broadened the kettle tradition into digital fundraising and online peer-to-peer participation.

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• 2022Creation of Northwest Indiana Area CommandStrategy

  Lake and Porter county operations were administered through different territorial structures and were targeted for more coordinated service delivery.

  What changed. The operations were merged into one Northwest Indiana Area Command within the Indiana Division.

  Aftermath. Existing facilities in Munster, East Chicago, Gary, and Valparaiso continued serving residents while resources and personnel were pooled.

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• 2021Appointment of LERMA/ as communications partnerStrategy

  The U.S. organization wanted to strengthen culturally informed communications, public relations, and digital fundraising.

  What changed. After an agency review, The Salvation Army USA named LERMA/ its agency of record.

  Aftermath. The partnership produced later holiday, social-media, and donor-engagement work.

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• 2018Reunification of Southern California divisionsStrategy

  The organization sought to coordinate services and administration across Southern California and the Sierra Del Mar region.

  What changed. It combined the two divisions into the California South Division, with headquarters in Long Beach and regional offices in San Diego and Orange County.

  Aftermath. The new division continued local programs while creating a larger administrative and service footprint.

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• 2026The Thrift That Got Away uses AI and sold inventory

  The Salvation Army's Western Territory and BarkleyOKRP developed a campaign showing recently sold one-of-one thrift items, turning scarcity and fear of missing out into a reason to visit stores.

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• 2023Salvation Army uses Snapchat for holiday fundraising

  The organization launched its first reported Snapchat advertising campaign in November 2023 and expanded spending during December to reach younger donors and improve digital donation measurement.

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• 2022Northwest Indiana Area Command formed through two-county merger

  Operations serving Lake and Porter counties were combined into a Northwest Indiana Area Command as part of a broader territorial reorganization.

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• 2021The Salvation Army appoints LERMA/ as U.S. agency of record

  The Salvation Army USA selected Dallas-based LERMA/ to support advertising, public relations, and digital fundraising as part of a communications modernization effort.

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• 2018Southern California Salvation Army divisions reunify

  Two Southern California divisions were combined into the California South Division, consolidating administration while continuing local services across the region.

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1. About The Salvation Army
2. The Salvation Army Thrift Stores
3. The Salvation Army Announces New Marketing Partner
4. The Salvation Army Snapchat Success Story
5. How one retailer used AI to turn out-of-stock into in-store traffic
6. California South Division created
7. Northwest Indiana Area Command established
8. Red Kettle Christmas Campaign and Online Kettle
9. Service-access advertising