Willmar: Runt of Litter is Top Dog During Christmas 2008

Of all The Salvation Army Northern Division’s 20 Worship and Service Centers throughout Minnesota and North Dakota, the one in Willmar is small enough to be called the runt of the litter.  

Yet when it comes to fundraising, the place has a very different status: Alpha Dog.

The Willmar Salvation Army brought in nearly $135,000 during its 2008 Christmas Campaign, raising 124 percent of its $112,000 goal. No other Salvation Army location beat their own Campaign goal by a higher percentage. The next closest was St. Cloud, with 116 percent.     

What could be more impressive than Willmar’s accomplishment?

“We did it all without one paid bell ringer,” said Randy Stahl, Administrator of the Willmar Salvation Army.

Most Salvation Army centers hire paid bell ringers to cover kettle shifts that volunteers cannot. Although Stahl spent $8,500 on paid bell ringers last Christmas and retained a good profit, he chose to avoid such overhead in 2008. To compensate for the loss of bell ringing hours, he worked his tail off promoting volunteer bell ringing. 

“Must have worked 70 hours a week,” Stahl said. “We did a ton of PR – radio ads, and we had bell ringing signs everywhere.”

The bell ringing signs included six life-size photos of Stahl (pictured) that were strategically placed at churches, grocery stores and other locations throughout Kandiyohi County.  

The effort yielded 350 more bell ringing hours than last year, helping total kettle contributions to reach nearly $55,000 – a full $7,000 over 2007. On top of that, mailed donations reached almost $80,000, or $9,000 more than last year.

In addition to the added volunteer bell ringers and the generous mailed donations (one woman gave $25,000!), eight local businesses and one couple matched kettle donations made at select storefronts. Nearly $3,000 in kettle donations were matched by: Marcus Construction, Turbo Turf/Chad Koosman, Daniel and Jeanne Koosman, Haug Implement, Monson Corp., Lake County Crane LLC, West Central Sanitation, West Central Insulation and Cullen’s Home Center.  
 
“We couldn’t have done any of this without the community,” Stahl said. “Not a chance. The Willmar Salvation Army thanks everybody who supported our mission. May God bless you in 2009.”