Salvation Army Red Kettle fundraiser surpasses goal
Despite a sluggish start, the Salvation Army Western Pennsylvania Division’s Red Kettle campaign for the 2025 holiday season surpassed its 2025 fundraising goal of $2.3 million.
In total, the division raised $2,485,684 across its 28-county region, a substantial increase over last year when it raised just over $2.2 million.
According to public relations director Nicole Harrell, much of the intake from this year came in the week leading up to Christmas Eve, the last day that in-person donations were possible.
“Usually in the days leading to Christmas Eve, we really see generosity from people,” Harrell said. “So we are really grateful.”
At the local level, the Butler County Corps contributed $81,000, slightly short of its goal of $90,000. However, corps envoy Charles DeJesus sees a silver lining.
“We fell a little short of our local goal, but praise God and thank you to the Butler area, we did raise more than last year,” DeJesus said. “So that was great.”
At first, it looked like this year’s Red Kettle campaign would fall short of its fundraising goals. By Dec. 17 — a week before the physical red kettles were pulled off the streets — the campaign had raised a total of $1,225,138 across Western Pennsylvania, just barely over half the goal for 2025. The Butler Corps had raised $46,000 of its goal of $90,000.
“The last week especially is kind of like the power week,” DeJesus said.
In recent years, the Salvation Army has taken steps to let the public donate in other ways than placing cash in physical red kettles and sending checks to the Salvation Army office.
A relatively new introduction, the “virtual red kettle,” allows patrons to scan a QR code on one of the red kettles, which will take them to a link where they can make a digital donation to their local Salvation Army Corps.
However, both DeJesus and Harrell said the vast majority of patrons still donate the old-fashioned way.
“The QR codes, locally, produced about $1,100 out of the $81,000,” DeJesus said. “Most of that money came through the red kettles or people sending (checks) to our office and putting ‘Red Kettle’ or ‘seasonal giving’ in the memo line.”
“As much as we love digital, the majority do come from our traditional fundraising efforts,” Harrell said. “And then we have some corporate partners and some major donors that help support the kettles.”
The Red Kettle campaign is the largest annual fundraising initiative for the Salvation Army. The proceeds fund the organization’s key community programs. However, anyone can donate to support the Salvation Army’s efforts year-round by visiting their website.
