Salvation Army Campaign Results Show Signs of Nonprofit Stress

The Salvation Army announced Tuesday that its Red Kettle campaign during the 2007 Christmas season achieved only a 0.7 percent annual gain — the smallest since 2002 — a sign that even well-established charities may be in a financial pinch this year.

The organization has increased Red Kettle donations in the range of 4.6 percent to 9.1 percent during the past four holiday seasons, which traditionally start the day after Thanksgiving and end on Christmas Eve.

Reuters reports that a decrease in charitable donations to causes such as the Salvation Army may be due not only to tight economic conditions but also to the proliferation of “trendy causes.”

Sandra Miniutti, a spokeswoman for Charity Navigator, explained that although consumer spending does respond to economic conditions, groups like the Salvation Army are also locked in a tight competition for donations from many other nonprofit groups. For example, she said, “Right now, giving to environmental groups is really hot and trendy, and it is really at the forefront of folks’ minds,” rather than causes centered on food or the homeless.