Christmas miracle: Fundraising deficits overcome in Minnesota and North Dakota
Originally published at: https://salvationarmynorth.org/2014/01/christmas-miracle-fundraising-deficits-overcome/
It’s the story of a Christmas miracle. Salvation Army service centers in the states of Minnesota and North Dakota were seeing fundraising deficits of 20 to 30 percent in the weeks leading up to Christmas; and then came the historic two-day, two-state, $2 million match on Dec. 20 and 21, and the gap closed.
Communities rallied, kettles were filled, mailboxes were stuffed, spirits were lifted and blessings blossomed.
“Because of that historic match, Salvation Army units across our entire region are reporting amazing success for their fundraising, “ says Lt. Colonel Robert Thomson, Salvation Army commander in Minnesota and North Dakota. “We have reports of units exceeding goals and of those who have pulled just within single digits of their goals.”
Throughout the campaign, Salvation Army leaders faithfully worked to secure the money needed and depended on their faith in God to provide.
“I’d say this is definitely a miracle from God,” Thomson said. “It is just so invigorating to see His work in this way, at the eleventh hour. We are so blessed.”
The $2 million match is getting all the credit for the turn around.
“The success was just stimulated by the wonderful friends who offered us that matching gift,” said Thomson. “What really happened was communities were energized and rallied to our aide. Stories from all over are just remarkable.”
Close enough to make up ground
According to Thomson, the areas that did not hit their target goals will work to make up the difference in the coming weeks. There may be locations that need to cut back in a few areas, but the large cuts that seemed inevitable earlier have been averted.
One of the largest campaigns not making goal is the Twin Cities 10-county metro area.
“It looks as though we will be short by $300,000 or more,” Thomson said. “But again, that is remarkable when we could have missed our $10.8 million goal by $3 million.”
Examples of amazing results:
- Online gifts totaling $488,000 – typical two day period would be $25,000
- On the first match day, Devils Lake N.D. with a total population of just 7,000 filled its kettles to a total of $6,590 – from a town that nearly got swallowed up by flood waters in 1997
- Minot N.D. collected $40,000 in kettles on the first match day – that is seven times higher than its best day ever
- Mankato, Minn. collected $32,421 in two days – the previous year on those two days was just $12,000
- International Falls, a city that typically collects $800 for the weekend before Christmas, netted $5,456
- In two days, Rochester, Minn. collected $76,053 which is $35,000 more than any two day period in its history.
“We remain grateful and humbled by this Christmas blessing,” Thomson said. “This takes us into the New Year with a resolve to do the most good with those donations of money and time.”