THE SALVATION ARMY RED SHIELD APPEAL DOORKNOCK
40TH ANNIVERSARY
1965-2005
Introduction
As The Salvation Army celebrates 40 years of the Red Shield Appeal, the
Army would like to thank the Australian public for its generous support of the
appeal since its inception.
During a period when charity appeals have come and gone, The Salvation
Army Red Shield Appeal has remained a constant fixture of the fundraising
calendar and is well-placed to do so into the future.
“Without the hundreds of millions of dollars raised through the appeal to date,
The Salvation Army’s extensive social service network simply would not be
what it is today,” says Salvation Army spokesperson, Major Mark Campbell.
During the late 1950s and early 1960s, The Salvation Army was concerned
about the need for funds to meet the ever-increasing demand on its social
services. The Army’s Social Trust Fund was struggling amid the increased
demand coupled with greater charity competition. Programs were suffering
and many buildings were in a bad state of repair.
The Red Shield Appeal was developed in response to these issues. It was
based on an effective model being used by The Salvation Army in Canada
since the late 1940s. Two Australians, Majors Don Campbell and Charles
Cross were sent to investigate the Canadian system during 1963 and returned
with a positive report. Their task was to convince leadership to implement
what would be a revolutionary fundraising approach for The Salvation Army in
Australia.
Up until this time in Australia, local centres and churches of The Salvation
Army were individually responsible to conduct a public doorknock each year
to raise income. This would sometimes take the small groups of committed
Salvationists up to three months of constant collecting!
The Canadian model involved enlisting community volunteers to help The
Salvation Army conduct a one-day doorknock to all households in the nation.
Foundational to this approach was the use of citizen’s advisory boards
whereby The Salvation Army would draw upon the advice and influence of
well-connected business and community leaders to support the appeal.
It was known as the “Red Shield” appeal in reference to the Red Shield
emblem used by Salvation Army chaplains and support workers during the
two World Wars, for which The Salvation Army was well recognised.
Having convinced leadership of the merits of the appeal, Campbell and Cross
joined other key Salvation Army personnel in beginning to “sell” the idea
internally. Regional areas were encouraged to begin implementing the new
system and by 1965 many were running pilot projects and using the nowfamous Red Shield emblem as the Canadians did.
The development of the highly-effective Red Shield Appeal has enabled The
Salvation Army to undertake many of its most effective social service
programs and relief efforts during the latter half of the 20th century and into the
21st.
During the late 1960s and early 1970s, with the help of Red Shield funds, The
Salvation Army Bridge Program for drug, alcohol and gambling rehabilitation
developed into the internationally acclaimed program it is today.
1985 saw the opening of the Army’s 24-hour telephone counselling service,
Salvo Care Line. Without the help of this service, and funding from the Red
Shield Appeal, many desperate callers would have taken their own lives.
During the 1990s, new approaches to the provision of social welfare
developed with programs like The Salvation Army’s Moneycare financial
counselling service. Moneycare provides a mixture of budgeting and financial
advice which aims to address the underlying causes of financial hardship and
break the cycle of welfare dependence.
In 1992, The Salvation Army opened the Oasis drop-in centre for homeless
youth on the streets of Sydney which has grown into an innovative network of
services for young people, including small businesses that employ youth.
Throughout this time, The Salvation Army has been alongside Australians in
their most tragic and difficult times, including times of cyclone, flood, bushfire
and crises such as the Port Arthur shooting tragedy, the Thredbo landslide
and the more recent Bali bomb tragedy.
THE SALVATION ARMY RED SHIELD APPEAL DOORKNOCK
A DETAILED HISTORY
Background
Prior to the Red Shield Appeal commencing in 1965, The Salvation Army had
conducted a public doorknock each year known as the Self Denial Appeal
(which is now the name of The Salvation Army’s internal appeal). In those
days, Salvation Army corps (churches) and social institutions were
responsible to collect their income from the public. Each was given a target to
reach and it might take two or three months of the year from July to
September for the Commanding Officer to cover his or her area, in addition to
running the centre or the corps. The officer would ask Salvationists (church
members) to help, but it was unheard of to ask members of the wider
community to help collect. At the end of the collection period, the church
would hold a Self Denial Altar Service and Salvationists would make their
contribution to the appeal.
Increased demand
By the late 1950s and early 1960s, The Salvation Army was concerned about
the need for funds to meet the ever-increasing demand on its social services.
The Army’s Social Trust Fund was struggling amid the increased demand
coupled with greater charity competition. Programs were suffering and many
buildings were in a bad state of repair.
Charities
At the same time, competition for funds was increasing rapidly, with an
explosion of new charities being established. Many of these were wellorganised and well-promoted, which had a significant effect on the percentage
of the charity dollar being given to The Salvation Army.
Public profile
The Salvation Army had been relying on the reputation it had established
during the two World Wars. However, while people saw the Sallies as being
good people who did a good job, they were not quite sure what the Sallies
actually did. There was a need to raise awareness and better inform the
general public about the Army’s vital work in the community.
The Canadian Red Shield Appeal experience
1962
During 1962, encouragement came from The Salvation Army’s International
Headquarters in London for the Australian territories to study the external
fundraising approach of The Salvation Army in Canada. Canada had an
effective appeal - the only one of its kind being run by The Salvation Army in
the world - that had been running for around 20 years. Beginning after WWII,
the appeal was known as the Red Shield Appeal, picking up on the wellrecognised Red Shield symbol of Salvation Army service during war-time.
While Australians had returned from War and put the Red Shield away as
soon as possible, wanting to forget, the Canadians were smart enough to take
advantage of the symbol to assist their fundraising.
During the early 1940s, The Salvation Army in Canada had experienced a
situation similar to what the Australian territories experienced in the 1960s.
The Canadians had shared their problems with a top influential business
leader in that country, the then chairman of the Canadian Pacific Railroad. He
had considered the situation and, recognising the work being carried out by
The Salvation Army, said, “This is not your problem. This is our problem. This
is a community problem.” This led to the move in Canada to establish citizen’s
advisory committees to serve The Salvation Army. From that beginning
followed some very sound fundraising and spectacular results.
Investigation & recommendation
1963
In January 1963, The Salvation Army sent Major Don Campbell from the
Australia Southern Territory and Major Charles Cross from the Australia
Eastern Territory on a five-month visit to Canada to examine first hand how
the Red Shield Appeal was operating. They were to investigate whether there
were possibilities for Australia to develop its own version of the appeal, and
report accordingly.
They identified a number of key characteristics of the Canadian appeal:
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The use of non-Salvationists to help collect funds
A one-day residential doorknock
Citizen’s advisory boards
A well-developed business appeal
Upon their return, Majors Campbell and Cross gave the recommendation that
these key characteristics be adopted in Australia. The first challenge was to
convince leadership. Commissioner Frederick Coutts of the Australia Eastern
Territory (later to become world leader/ General) fired all kinds of questions at
the men during an all-day meeting. Finally, late in the afternoon, he
exclaimed, “Now I’ve got it! I see what you’re on about!”
The idea of using citizen’s advisory boards was completely new and it took
some time for leaders to adjust to it. Nevertheless, this was an essential
foundation for the appeal. The board would provide influential people to
advise The Salvation Army on matters of property, policy and finances.
Importantly, it would also help The Salvation Army launch out into the
community and identify the right people to form a Red Shield Appeal
fundraising committee.
Laying the groundwork
1963-65
The Salvation Army needed to make some administrative changes if the new
appeal concept was to have a good chance of success.
Colonel Gordon Peterson was put in charge of Public Relations in Sydney and
told to implement the new fundraising system. Charles Cross was also
appointed to the Public Relations Department in Sydney in 1965 and the
Department appointed city directors to major regional areas like Canberra,
Newcastle, Brisbane and Rockhampton. Their role was to be proactive in
trying to get a one weekend approach to the Red Shield Appeal.
Gordon Peterson had strong connections to Australia’s premier fundraising
organisation, Wells. His friend Syd Herron (who had Salvation Army
connections) was the Managing Director of Wells. To implement the new
system properly on a professional basis Syd suggested to Gordon that some
officers should be trained in professional fundraising. A course was organised
at Wells for a group of 16 Salvation Army officers, from which three were
chosen to come and work in Public Relations, enlarging the department.
These included Captain Wes Kinder (Sydney), Captain Ed Dawkins (Sydney),
and Captain Neville Brooks (Newcastle).
Wells helped the department establish a structure upon which to build a
fundraising program which would stand for years and go from strength to
strength.
“Selling” the Red Shield Appeal concept internally
1965-66
The next challenge was to sell the idea of the Red Shield Appeal to the wider
Salvation Army. This was not without opposition, many people being resistant
to change.
It was not simply a matter of declaring that there would be one Red Shield
Appeal from this day onwards. Rather, different divisional commands within
The Salvation Army were given the authority to revamp their existing annual
appeal.
During 1965-66, Major Charles Cross began speaking at divisional meetings
of Salvation Army officers to inform them about the new approach, answer
questions and provide literature and equipment to help them implement it.
The new city directors would also visit corps upon invitation and talk to the
locals about how to do a one weekend appeal. They started using the term
‘Red Shield Appeal’. It took a while at the local level to drop the ‘Self Denial’
language but year by year it caught on.
The first step was to get all Salvationists involved and move away from the
officer being the organiser. Cross spoke to corps officers about getting their
local Salvation Army church leaders to form Red Shield Appeal committees
and organise enough workforce to do a doorknock in one day.
It was also important now to separate the personal giving of Salvation Army
church members from public donations. A change was made so that the Self
Denial Altar Service for Salvationists had to come before the Red Shield
Appeal. The principle was that Salvationists had to first give themselves
before they could go to the public and ask. To this day, Salvationists give
generously to their internal Self Denial Appeal before they go the public and
ask for support for the Red Shield Appeal.
As those corps who implemented the system experienced huge increases in
funds raised, others came on board.
Start of the Red Shield Appeal Doorknock in Australia
1965
By 1965 the Red Shield Appeal as we know it today was in the making and
the first set of receipt books had been produced. The Red Shield symbol was
registered as a trademark and became the emblem for the appeal. The
appeal was not initially called the Red Shield Appeal. The words ‘Self Denial’
were dropped and the appeal was at first known as The Annual Appeal.
By 1969, the two Australian territories were also working together on one
national publicity campaign to support appeal.
Conclusion
Prior to the Red Shield Appeal, The Salvation Army’s Social Trust Fund was
struggling, social service programs were under threat and many buildings
were in a bad state of repair.
The Salvation Army in Australia’s decision to apply the Canadian system of
external fundraising was a revolutionary one.
The result was that the territories saw huge increases in the funds raised,
allowing the Army to maintain existing social programs, develop new social
programs such as the Bridge Program, and renovate and repair properties
where necessary.
Without the Red Shield Appeal, The Salvation Army in Australia simply would
not be able to provide the extensive caring network of service it offers to the
community today.