The next time you run across a Salvation Army Christmas kettle, don't assume it wants to suck up your spare change. It may just want your plastic instead.
After a Pittsburgh bank donated a Hypercom wireless credit-card terminal to the Salvation Army during the two weeks before Christmas, the organization saw per-hour contributions double wherever it was set up. And throughout the army's Western Pennsylvania Division, contributions were up 11 percent over last year. Salvation Army officials conceded that media coverage of the mobile electronic kettle didn't hurt contributions.
"We need to reach out to the computer generation," said Allegheny County Coordinator Major Donald Hostetler in a press release. "Many of our loyal donors are elderly. They know from experience what The Salvation Army has done for the community. However, we need to make special efforts to educate and cultivate the 20- to 30-year-old market who are more acclimated to computer technology."
The Hypercom terminal uses Cellular Digital Packet Data technology, which transmits packets of data over a cellular telephone network to a secured bank network, which in turn sends an approval message in about five seconds. The device can operate on batteries or a mobile power supply, and incorporates a 35-key keyboard, LCD and printer. The terminal can also print out a receipt, which the donor can use as proof of the contribution.
