Where can I download notes for Salvation Army buckets?

December 5, 2009 2:38 PM

Any idea where to download pre-formatted notes to put in those irritating red Salvation Army buckets, explaining why you aren't donating?

I was discussing this article with an older friend and she mentioned that there used to be little notes you could print out to put in the red buckets explaining why you didn't give cash. A cursory search didn't turn anything up for me, and I'm busy enough/lazy enough that I'd rather not go to the trouble of distilling and editing down all the many reasons I don't donate into a small, coherent, and well-formatted paragraph. I'm more likely to just keep scowling and muttering under my breath.

Anyone know what she was referring to or have an alternate suggestion?

Many thanks!

posted by melogranato to Religion & Philosophy (12 answers total)

What are your reasons for not donating? I might steal some of them and write my own note to share with you.
posted by KathrynT at 2:43 PM on December 5, 2009

I don't mean this as snark, but when I got curious and googled a little bit about the issues in your question, this Boing Boing post popped up, which seems to give a much less nefarious and much more reasonable explanation for asking for ID. I still probably won't give to the SA, but my outrage-o-meter went way down after reading the Boing Boing post. Based on that, I'd forgo scowling and muttering and instead just walk away from the bucket without giving any money.
posted by Meg_Murry at 2:45 PM on December 5, 2009

If you don't want to give them money it is surely not too much effort to politely say to them "I donate privately to charities of my choice," or even just "No thanks." Putting passive aggressive notes into charity boxes is about the most pathetic thing I've heard of, it's worse than completely blanking the collectors.
posted by fire&wings at 2:55 PM on December 5, 2009 [15 favorites]

Just FYI, to those of you who think it's passive aggressive:

One of the major reasons people choose not to donate is because the Salvation Army is notoriously hostile to the LGBT community. I think the idea of these letters is that this community and their supporters would like to donate to the Salvation Army because they agree with its ideals and think it's doing good work, but they choose not to because of a policy that they see as unrelated to its mission.

The idea is not to be rude, but to start a grassroots movement that forces the Salvation Army to realize how much money in donations they are missing out on. So the notes, if I remember correctly (though I can't find them now either), say something like : "Hey, I wanted to drop $5 in your bucket, and I really would have, except for this unrelated policy you have. So, you might want to think about dropping it so that I can support your mission"
posted by lesli212 at 3:06 PM on December 5, 2009 [21 favorites]

That's really not going to work, and it's just going to piss off the volunteers. A much better use of your time would be to start a grassroots movement writing letters to SA head office, or contacting a film student to make a short viral video explaining your feelings or something actually productive that would be seen by someone with an ounce of clout.

In short, don't shoot the little guy.
posted by Magnakai at 3:10 PM on December 5, 2009 [1 favorite]

Oh! And after writing that, I remembered it was a PFLAG thing. It seems they don't do this anymore, however.

I did find this coupon from another organization, however.
posted by lesli212 at 3:13 PM on December 5, 2009

On preview:
I think this was more of an oldschool thing before the Internet was seen as a place where grassroots movements could have a real world impact. The idea was to touch base with individuals who reported to local salvation army offices, who would then report to the head office - hopefully, this contact would be done in a respectful manner, though I bet lots of people were really rude as they dropped off coupons.
posted by lesli212 at 3:16 PM on December 5, 2009

There's this as well. Because of stuff like this, and their well-known opposition to same-sex marriage.

Agreeing with Conrad, btw, that OP does not need to know if this is a good idea or not.
posted by BrokenEnglish at 3:30 PM on December 5, 2009

Mod note: few comments removed - okay to disagree but please stop short of a pile-on, thanks.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 3:49 PM on December 5, 2009

Expanding on what lesli linked to, I found this article in Nexis. Seattle Times, 12/16/2001:

The shiny, red Salvation Army kettles have become a soapbox of sorts for gay-rights advocates this year.

Instead of money, some people are dropping notes of protest into the kettles criticizing the evangelical Christian organization's refusal to offer health benefits to its employees' domestic partners.

"We want them to know they hurt our families," said Mary Scholl, of the gay-rights group Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). Scholl, whose 38-year-old son is gay, is president of the group's Genesee County, Mich., chapter, which spearheaded the movement.

Most of the notes, which are in the form of fake $5 bills, say, "I would have donated five dollars, but the Salvation Army's decision to discriminate against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered employees prevents my donation now and in the future."

According to the rest of the article, the Salvation Army reported getting around 20-30 a day in Seattle. A Salvation Army organizer said: "As far as protests goes, it's as low-key and friendly as it can be," but also said he worried that a full-blown boycott would harm the organization. I don't know that there was ever any call for such a boycott.

I haven't found anything that suggests this campaign continued on past that point, or that these fake $5 bills (or anything similar) are still being used.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 4:19 PM on December 5, 2009

The "gay dollars" campaign was going last year.

That's really not going to work, and it's just going to piss off the volunteers.

And? Putting a politely worded note in a donation kettle is hardly an assault.
posted by Sidhedevil at 6:47 PM on December 5, 2009 [3 favorites]

I've generally supported the SA, because they perform a basic mission - feeding and clothing the poor. I suspect the good they do outweighs their backward stance on civil rights, but this thread persuades me that my charitable money is best spent elsewhere. Your note in the bucket will be read by someone who will be hard to persuade. Instead, write an email explaining why givers should divert money from SA to an organization that serves the poor. Be thoughtful, respectful and document your reasons. Ask anyone who diverts their giving to let the SA know why. That's the sort of email I'd forward.
posted by theora55 at 8:13 AM on December 6, 2009