Target To End Redcard School Donation Program
Target’s Take Charge of Education program will come to an end in May 2016, company officials told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
For years, Target has focused its corporate giving on education. That’s about to change. The company announced this week that it will begin supporting health and wellness efforts instead.
Target’s Take Charge of Education program will come to an end in May 2016, company officials told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Through the program, customers choose a school to receive 1 percent of purchases they make using a Target Redcard. More than 100,000 schools have benefited from the program, receiving more than $432 million over the last 18 years.
Although those are big numbers, only 10 percent of Redcard holders signed up for Take Charge for Education and the average yearly donation to schools was $370. To help schools adjust to losing the income, Target will award schools a one-time grant in July. All schools that receive an annual payout in February 2016 will receive a grant. Each school’s one-time grant will amount to about 50 percent of the school’s February check, according to Target spokeswoman Angie Thompson.
“When that program started, it was incredibly innovative,” chief corporate responsibility officer Laysha Ward told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. “There was nothing else like it out there. We just want to continue to innovate.”
The company will continue to provide field trip grants and support school food pantries through its Meals for Minds program, according to Ward. The new focus on health and wellness is in response to customer input, she said.
The change in Target’s corporate giving strategy came after the company achieved a goal to give $1 billion for education from 2010 to 2015. The company met the goal in August. In addition to the funds given through the Redcard program, Target helped fund 200 school library makeovers, donated more than 8 million books, and provided $87 million in education grants from local stores.
