MINNEAPOLIS — Posters inside Target stores often tout the amount of money the retailer has given to nearby schools over the years through its Take Charge of Education program in which it sends 1 percent of every Redcard holders’ purchase to a school of his or her choice.
That program, which over 18 years has given $432 million to tens of thousands of schools around the U.S., will end next spring, another ripple in the Minneapolis-based company’s broader transformation.
Target Corp. was to notify schools Monday that it will wind down the program and shift its corporate social responsibility focus to health and wellness.
“When that program started, it was incredibly innovative,” said Laysha Ward, Target’s chief corporate responsibility officer. “There was nothing else like it out there. We just want to continue to innovate.”
Target will continue to give 5 percent of its profits, or about $4 million a week, to communities, she said.
“That is unwavering and is not going to change,” she said. “What will look different is how we express and reimagine our social responsibility commitment for a new generation in a way that’s relevant, engaging and meeting our guest, our teams and communities where they are today, which looks different than it did five years ago or 10 years ago.”
She and other Target executives are working on the precise scope of the firm’s future charitable programs. She said they will roll out next year and will likely engage social media. She cited the buy-one-give-one campaign for back-to-school supplies the company launched last fall as another example of where the company is headed.
The Take Charge of Education program, she added, had a “phenomenal” run. But only 10 percent of Redcard holders enrolled in the program and, when the company surveyed shoppers, it found that many did not remember if they had designated a school.
The change will be a disappointment to schools, which had become accustomed to receiving the unrestricted funds every year to cover budget gaps for everything from school supplies to after-school programs.
Target says schools received an average of $370 a year from the program, though some schools received thousands of dollars a year.
