Salvation Army To Announce NFL Draft Pick

If you are a sports fan, you likely know that Radio City Music Hall in New York City has been hosting the 2012 NFL Draft. What you might not know is that the Salvation Army will be announcing a pick for one of the teams.

The organization announced on its website today that Chief Communications Officer Major General George Hood will be announcing the Dallas Cowboy's fourth round draft pick tomorrow morning.

“This is a very exciting opportunity. A way to recognize the long-standing relationship between The Salvation Army and the Dallas Cowboys,” said Major Hood. “It will certainly be an honor for me to announce the fourth round draft pick and on a personal note, should be a lot of fun!“

The Dallas Cowboys, who selected Louisiana State University's Corner Back Morris Claiborne in the Draft's first round last night, have supported the Salvation Army for 14 years in a number of ways. For instance, the team's Executive Vice President of Brand Management, Charlotte Jones Anderson, has served as the nonprofit's National Advisory Board Chairperson. She has also organized the annual Red Kettle Kickoff event at Cowboys stadium on Thanksgiving Day since 1998.

4th round draft choices don't exactly come with the hype of first or even second round picks but that doesn't mean the player chosen won't have an impact. After all, some guy named Tom Brady was the New England Patriot's sixth round draft pick in 2000.

You can read the full story on the Salvation Army's blog.

Americans Still Battling Recession-Imposed Hunger

Though there are signs that the recession is gradually becoming a thing of the past, millions of people in America are still going hungry. This informative video by Nonprofit Times focuses on this situation. A staggering ninety four percent of all Salvation Army food programs saw requests for food increase in 2010. Well over sixty percent of all these programs experienced an increase in demand of fifteen percent or more. The problem is that sixty percent of all Salvation Army programs have not received the necessary increase in funding to cope with the elevated flood of requests. In fact, many programs have had to deal with decreases in funding across all channels...public, private and governmental.

Some positive news
In a survey conducted not too long ago, as many as fifty five percent of respondents mentioned that their shelves were only half full or less. On a more positive note however, the Salvation Army has reported that thirty six percent of its programs have experienced higher funding levels, and twenty three percent of all programs benefited from higher levels of volunteerism. These kinds of positive figures reveal that the recession has not broken the spirit of American generosity.

Supporters of the Salvation Army keep their contributions stable

If you are interested in current fundraising levels and trends directed towards nonprofit organizations, then you will find this video to be quite interesting. There are few charitable organizations that are more well known than the Salvation Army, and this institution provides a very good idea of what nonprofit fundraising trends and levels look like at any particular time. Despite one of the worst economic recessions in recent history, mobile giving appears to be very promising, and overall the fundraising levels have remained relatively stable, at least as far as the Salvation Army is concerned.

The increasing move towards donating online
According to Major George Hood of the Salvation Army, online giving grew by a significant 35% over the 2010 holiday season, as opposed to the same period in 2009. More and more people are taking to the Internet to conduct their fundraising activities, and this is at least partly due to an increase in effective online marketing campaigns. The fact that online contributions to the Salvation Army has increased by such a proportion, is indicative of the fact that use of and accessibility to the Internet continues to grow in leaps and bounds. It is a trend that holds true for commercial retailers as much as it does for nonprofit organizations

Donation levels remain constantWhile it may be true that online contributions have increased significantly, the impact of the economic downturn has not been completely absent. It would have been reasonable to assume that overall donation levels would have increased given the increase in online contributions, but this has not been the case. Major Hood has confirmed that overall contributions received by the Salvation Army have remained roughly identical moving from 2009 to 2010. The overall amount that the Salvation Army received in contributions in both these years was between three and $4 million. Taking the time to watch this video is one way to keep up to speed with regard to current fundraising trends.