The superstar brothers band known for songs such as “Leave Before You Love Me” will count on fans to show their affection this holiday season when the Jonas Brothers team up with the Dallas Cowboys to kick off one of America’s most venerable and longstanding fundraising drives — The Salvation Army’s annual Red Kettle campaign.
The trio will perform during the halftime show of the nationally televised Thanksgiving Day game between the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants on Nov. 24. The 26th annual event that ties the Cowboys with The Salvation Army partners this year with the NFL, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and the Jones Family Foundation.
“The Salvation Army is immeasurably grateful for 26 years of partnership with the Dallas Cowboys,” Commissioner Kenneth Hodder, national commander of The Salvation Army said via a statement. “It takes an army of partners and supporters to care for our most vulnerable neighbors, and we’re delighted to see the Cowboys continue to rise above and beyond the occasion each year.”
For the Grammy Award-nominated and American Music Award-winning Jonas Brothers, it’s their second time performing for the Red Kettle campaign kickoff after first doing the honors in 2008. They join a long list of other celebrity halftime performers who have done so over the years including Kenny Chesney, Kelly Clarkson, Selena Gomez, Carrie Underwood, LeAnn Rimes, Destiny’s Child and more.
The three brothers – Kevin, Joe and Nick – teased to the date of the upcoming performance on their social media pages by each posting an image of a Dallas Cowboys jersey emblazoned with one of the three numbers – 11, 24, or 22 – in blue underneath the name JONAS, also in blue letters, next to a red Salvation Army logo.
The numbers, appearing on their pages one by one in staggered sequence, remained a mystery until the big reveal came via a joint statement they released in conjunction with the NFL, Dallas Cowboys and The Salvation Army.
“We couldn’t be more excited to return to AT&T Stadium and play The Salvation Army halftime show,” the Jonas Brothers said via a statement. “We are honored that our performance will help raise awareness of the great need that exists and encourage everyone to donate to The Salvation Army to make a difference in their communities this holiday season and all year long.”
Despite the Red Kettle campaign’s traditional Thanksgiving Day kickoff, The Salvation Army’s holiday giving campaign technically now begins Oct. 1 and spans the entire final three months of the year. The change was made in 2020 as the nonprofit braced for what it feared would be a decline in Red Kettle donations as a result of COVID-19. The pandemic accelerated the ongoing shift to online shopping from traditional gathering places such as retail shopping centers and malls that had long served as a focal point for the holiday campaign.
Notwithstanding the challenge this continues to present, a spokesperson for The Salvation Army told The NonProfit Times the organization is still counting on the generosity of shoppers to sustain a robust giving season this year. “Even with the lingering challenges of the pandemic, reduced foot traffic, and soaring inflation, we are still hopeful that our generous donors will help us raise over $100 million at Red Kettles nationwide,” said Bishop Wash, a spokesperson for the organization.
The changes of the past few years have created enormous pressure at a time when the Ukraine refugee crisis and inflationary increases in the cost of food, housing, heat, transportation, medicine and other necessities are exacerbating humanitarian needs at home and around the world.
While in-person donations to the Red Kettle campaign still represent a sizable portion of overall donations received, the 21% figure ($109.3 million) coming from in-person donations last year was down significantly from the 29% ($126.1 million) for in-person kettle donations just two years earlier. To offset the drop-off, the campaign leaders began increasing reliance on major gifts of $5,000 or more – which nearly doubled during the same two-year period – as well as on direct mail, telephone and online appeals.
The effort paid off during 2020. Despite the pandemic, total Red Kettle donations for the year increased to a record high of $566 million, prompted in large part by the generosity of donors who stepped to the plate in a big way to meet the year’s unprecedented challenges.
Red Kettle campaign donations fell to $519.7 million in 2021, down about 8% from the all-time high of 2020, but were still 19% more than the $437 million the campaign raised in 2019. For the entire fiscal year 2021, The Salvation Army took in revenue of $4 billion, with $2.37 billion coming from public support.
Not resting on its laurels, The Salvation Army launched a new “Love Beyond” campaign early this year to continue encouraging supporters to give beyond the holiday season and consider donating all year-round. Those wishing to do so can sign up for a sustaining gift of $25 a month or can donate any amount at any time by texting “KETTLES” to 51555 or by asking Amazon’s Alexa to donate by saying, “Alexa, donate to The Salvation Army” and then specifying the amount. Donors can also give in cryptocurrency or can donate digitally with Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, or Venmo at any Red Kettle location across the country.
“Many people think of The Salvation Army as bell ringers, red kettles, and thrift stores, but few know the role we play in helping suffering humanity throughout the year,” Hodder said. “While we have historically focused the majority of our public awareness and education efforts on the Christmas season, need knows no season, nor does generosity.”
