How It Works
Remember that $25 gift card you received on your birthday that now has $1.14 left on it and is taking up space in your wallet? We can use it to help local families in need!
What can you buy with the $1.78 or $.29 left on your gift card? If you give it to The Salvation Army you can provide a hot meal, and hope to someone who desperately needs it.
The Salvation Army has a program to redeem the unspent portion
of gift cards from any retail store into cash to support our important programs for those in need.
It doesn't matter what store it’s from or how much
is left on it. We can convert it to cash to serve the
most vulnerable of our community. All cards –
used and unused – will help. So please, check
your wallet, your purse, your dresser drawers or
wherever you stash your gift cards and drop
them off at your nearest Salvation Army location or mail it to us today. We’ll put them to use to ease the
burden of our poorest!
It's Year Round
Year-round, The Salvation Army can accept old gift cards, used or unused, and convert the balance into service dollars for its many outreach programs.
How You Can Help
- How You Can Help - GET THE WORD OUT! Tell everyone you know that The Salvation Army is now accepting used and unused gift cards. Start a new holiday tradition by giving The Salvation Army your last year's gift cards.
- Ask for Help Collecting Gift Cards - GET OTHERS INVOLVED! It's not enough to tell others about the program, you have to call them to action!
- Use Our Envelopes - WE MAKE IT EASY FOR YOU! The Salvation Army can provide you with preprinted 6x9 collection envelopes that detail the program and make it easy. Pass these out at work, church, social events, service clubs and more!
- Download a simple one page Instruction Guide. [188kb PDF]
The Facts
- The gift card market is expected to be over $100 billion in 2007.
- Each year 8-12% of money on gift cards goes unused - that's $10 billion dollars in 2007.
- Over $8 billion dollars in 2005 and $9 billion in 2006 was never used. This money is still out there and The Salvation Army can use it.
- This "new source" of program funds doesn't require anyone to write a check or buy anything.
- 64% of US adults - 139 million people - either bought or received a gift card in the past 12 months.
- 19% of people that received a gift card in 2005 never used it.
- Over 62% of Americans admitted to having three or more gift cards that were unused or had value remaining in them.
