According to an article in Saturday’s Star Tribune, Target will keep its commitment to give five percent of its income to the community, despite layoffs announced earlier in the week.
Target has given five percent of its pretax profits to charitable causes since the first retail store opened in 1962. Its community outreach efforts support education, arts & culture, and social services at $3 million a week. Target Foundation & Corporation reported combined cash and in-kind contributions of $169 million for the fiscal year ending Feb. 2, 2008.
Hold on a second. What is the definition of philanthropy. I am a Global MBA student so I have a little bit of experience with how comapanies act in a philanthropic manner. Philanthropy is doing something good, just for the fact of doing it. This company uses these donations in their advertising to gain more business, they use it when they sell their red cards, that is part of their sales strategy. I believe this is the most un-philanthropic company I have ever seen. When they go into a community to help, they don’t compensate their team members, not even one dime. I know I use to be a senior team leader for target, so I have a little experience with this also. I would get into more detail about this if I had more time. I am writing a graduate paper on Target and how they fool the community into believing that they actually have an ethical platform. If you want to see the finished paper, it will be finished and graded by the middle of march. I can e-mail it to you if you wish.
Sincerely,
Jerry Leavitt
Senior Drill Sgt Leader
USAR
[...] Minnesota Council on Foundations: Target has given five percent of its pretax profits to charitable causes since the first retail [...]