CAPTAIN GUIDELINES:
 

• COMMITMENT.  Your firm adopts a location or locations, in an area of your choice, to ring bells for The Salvation Army on any or all of the four Wednesdays between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

• HOURS.  We ring from 11AM to 7PM on all Wednesdays between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

• NUMBER OF DOORS (KETTLES).  Your firm must decide the number of doors (kettles) for which their firm would be able to provide bell-ringing volunteers.  Many stores have two doors and it would be ideal for one firm to take ownership of the store by ringing at both doors if possible.

• SALVATION ARMY COORDINATOR.  A Salvation Army Coordinator is essential for success.  In a single corps area, this can be an officer or staff member.  The Salvation Army Coordinator is responsible for the coordination of scheduling and logistics for the event and the communications between the captains and the corps.

• CAPTAIN SELECTION.  Your firm assigns a captain to work with The Salvation Army Coordinator responsible for coordination and the logistics of the event.

• CAPTAIN’S DUTIES.  Your captain will be responsible for the recruitment, scheduling, and communication with your individual volunteers and The Salvation Army Coordinator.  Your captain may assign someone in the firm to assist in recruiting, scheduling and communication, both within your firm and with The Salvation Army.

• BELL-RINGING GUIDELINES.  A bell-ringing guideline information sheet for your firm’s volunteers is available here: Bell Ringing Guidelines).  The information sheet provides detailed information for your individual bell-ringing volunteers.

• SELLING POINTS.  There are many selling points for use during recruitment of volunteer bell-ringers.  A few of these are:

The Salvation Army truly helps those in need in our community.  100% of the funds raised during the red kettle campaign stay in the local community where they are donated to support local social service programs. 

 

Being a part of the good work of The Salvation Army lends itself to the true spirit of the season.

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Participation elevates the public image and perception of our real estate industry as a cooperative and caring group.

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Participation in Real Estate Wednesdays will help us connect and reconnect with our clients and the community we serve. 

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• SIGNING UP.  Your firm may sign up to participate in Real Estate Wednesdays, visit REGISTER TO RING

• LOCATION PREFERENCE.  Your firm’s captain will determine a convenient location or locations by cross-streets and zip codes and the number of kettles (doors) your group can ring on any 4 Wednesdays between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  If you have a preference of a store or stores, please include this information in your application.   If the location request is included in your application, The Salvation Army will do it’s best to accommodate the request.

• THE PROCESS.  Upon receipt of the online submission, The Salvation Army Coordinator will email or call your captain to review the event, answer any questions and determine location opportunities.  The desired method of communication is by email.

• LOCATION DETERMINATION.  The Salvation Army Coordinator will contact the Army corps responsible for your firm’s desired location(s) to schedule.  Confirmation will be emailed to your captain or if the location is not available, the Salvation Army Coordinator will immediately communicate this information.  Scheduling is on a first come, first served basis.  

• COMMUNICATION PRIOR TO RINGING.  The Salvation Army Coordinator will email each Captain during the week prior to the scheduled ringing to confirm the schedule and address any concerns of the coordinator or the volunteers.

• SIGNAGE.  The Salvation Army will provide a sign attached to the kettle stand identifying your firm (with logo).

• CLOTHING.  Volunteers should wear clothing representative of your profession.  Shirts, blouses and pins with company names and logos are encouraged.  The Salvation Army will also provide aprons and volunteer pins.

• START OF THE DAY.  Your first volunteers of the day will find the kettles, stands, aprons, bells, etc. either at the assigned door, inside of the assigned door, or at the customer service counter of the store.    The cell phone number of The Salvation Army corps contact will be on the stands or kettles.

• NO SHOWS.  If, during the day of ringing, there are no-shows, if the kettles have not been received or picked-up, or if other problems arise, the bell-ringing volunteer should contact your captain.  If your captain cannot solve the problem, he or she should contact the Salvation Army Coordinator for assistance.

• END OF THE DAY.  The Army will pick up the kettles by 7 PM on each Wednesday.  Please allow about 15 minutes to allow for unexpected traffic difficulties.  In some instances, the kettles will be picked up prior to 7PM to accommodate a scheduled route.

• RESULTS.  Results will be emailed to your captains within 48 to 72 hours after the event.  The data will include totals for the day of ringing and the event-to-date totals.  Captains have the responsibility to communicate the results to their individual bell-ringing volunteers.

• CERTIFICATES.  A Certificate of Appreciation will be provided to your firm after the bell-ringing season.  Certificates will be available for individual bell-ringers upon request.  In addition, a full page listing of all volunteers will be published in the Arizona Republic newspaper.

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We sincerely thank you for your participation in Real Estate Wednesdays.  We are looking forward to a very memorable experience for you and your volunteers, and, hopefully, the beginning of a new holiday tradition for everyone.  The Salvation Army truly appreciates your support. Their good works are made possible by good people like you!