The Salvation Army

The Salvation Army is an international evangelical Christian organization and one of the largest charities in the United States, operating as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit entity. Founded in 1865 by William Booth, a Methodist minister, and his wife Catherine in London's East End, the organization began by serving the most vulnerable populations in urban slums, offering food, shelter, clothing, and Christian ministry. Booth adopted the military-style structure and the Salvation Army name in 1878, establishing a hierarchical command system that remains central to operations today. The organization arrived in the United States in 1880 and expanded rapidly through major cities during the 1880s and 1890s. By 1900, it had opened 21 facilities across Minnesota and North Dakota alone, demonstrating early commitment to geographic reach and community presence.

As of December 2025, The Salvation Army operates in more than 130 countries and political entities worldwide, making it the sixth largest charity in America. The organization maintains active operations across all major metropolitan areas in the United States and continues to open new service centers, shelters, and housing facilities to address growing community needs. Its expansion strategy focuses on underserved urban communities and areas with high concentrations of vulnerable populations requiring food, shelter, housing, rehabilitation, and disaster relief services.

The organization's real estate footprint reflects its mission-driven approach to facility placement. Rather than pursuing traditional commercial site selection, The Salvation Army prioritizes locations in communities with significant homeless populations, high poverty concentration, and areas affected by disasters. This strategy has resulted in thousands of evangelical centers, social welfare institutions, hospitals, schools, and service agencies operating globally. In the United States, the Northern Division alone served approximately 250,000 people in Minnesota and North Dakota in recent years, providing roughly 6,900 meals daily and shelter for approximately 900 people nightly.

The Salvation Army operates through a corps-based system with officers commanding basic units, organized into divisions and territories. Women have held absolute equality with men within the organization since its founding, a notably progressive stance for the 19th century. The organization faced early schisms in the United States, including an 1884 independence movement and an 1896 split that led to the formation of the Volunteers of America, yet it remained the dominant organization carrying forward Booth's vision. President Dwight D. Eisenhower recognized the organization's significance by declaring the first National Salvation Army Week in 1954, nearly 100 years after its founding. The organization's iconic red kettles, first used in 1891 at the Oakland Ferry Landing in San Francisco Bay, have become one of the most successful examples of color branding in marketing history and remain instantly recognizable to American consumers.