Target's efforts reinforce family lifestyle - Dayton Hudson Corp. Target Stores - DISC

Discount Store News, August 17, 1992 by Mary Ellen Kelly

The creativity, breadth and scope of Target Stores' charitable programs, together with the involvement of its associates, has won this division of Dayton Hudson the Discounters In Service to the Community Award among retailers with sales in excess of $1 billion.

Store managers and district managers are directly involved in the development of Target's charitable efforts, serving as the official contact for community organizations, and acting as liaison to Target's Community Affairs staff.

Pinpointed on Target's charitable schedule in 1991 were donations to assist organizations which benefited the family, programs in support of the environment, and extensive corporate and store level involvement in the United Way campaign.

"We can't Afford to Discount People's Lives," was the theme of Target's United Way campaign in 1991, raising nearly $5 million for more than 175 local United Way offices. Target employee involvement was perhaps the highest of any discounter of its size; nearly 75% of Target employees (63,500) helped support the United Way program in 1991.

The United Way campaign was conducted at all Target locations (463 stores, 45 regional and district offices, 7 distribution centers and three headquarters locations in 32 states.)

In fact, Target's efforts were so comprehensive, the discounter won two national awards from the United Way of America for its campaign materials and four local awards from Minneapolis-St. Paul United Ways. Individual stores also received recognition for high participation levels.

Further support of the United Way campaign was reflected in a special issue of the company newsletter devoted to how dollars are deducted from paychecks and where these dollars go; and in the contribution of two full-time employees for the Minneapolis and St. Paul campaigns.

Target employee involvement did not end with the United Way effort. As Bob Ulrich, chairman and chief executive officer of Target had said, "When it comes to giving, Target employees are real leaders. That's one of the reasons for our success."

The volunteer effort is operated on a location-by-location basis and is called Good Neighbor Volunteers. The volunteer program completed in excess of 1,100 service projects during 1991.

To cultivate employee involvement through recognition, Target invested $190,000 to its Good Neighbor Volunteer program, and last year also instituted national Good Neighbor awards.

Companywide volunteer efforts are fostered as well, including events such as the Walk-A-Thon for the prevention of birth defects in which more than 3,000 employees walked and raised $154,000. Target also sponsored checkpoint stations along the walk route.

Charitable involvement among Target employees does not end, even with the conclusion of employment. Target retirees have formed their own coalition.

Target Retirees Active in Community Service (TRACS) are active in knitting caps and mittens for disadvantaged families and assist in various employee volunteer projects as well.

While volunteerism is high among Target workers, so are corporate dollar contributions.

In 1991 alone, Target contributed in excess of $7 million in direct financial grants to non-profit organizations across the country.

The chain dedicates 40% of its annual charitable funds to social action programs that "strengthen and enrich family life," especially those which are designed to prevent family violence.

The groups supported during 1991 included the Women's Center of Stockton, Calif. which provide counseling and crisis intervention to thousands of battered women and their children and hundreds of victims of sexual assault and child molestation.

A group called, Child Abuse Prevention Services (CAPS) based in Elkhart, Ind., was given a grant by Target, enabling the organization to continue to provide nurturing/parenting instruction to parents who have been abusive to their children or are at risk of doing so.

An additional 40% of charitable dollars is directed to non-profit professional arts organizations--again, with the family in mind because the goal is to make exposure to the arts both accessible and affordable to family audiences.

Other family-oriented efforts include Family to Family, a program spearheaded by Target's sister company, Mervyn's, in 1988. Family to Family works to establish a recruitment, training and accreditation program for family child care providers.

Long-term goals are to heighten public awareness and offer consumer education programs on both local and national levels to encourage parents to demand proper care of their children and to influence policy-makers to address child care issues. This offshoot of the Family to Family program, termed Child Care Aware, is currently being launched.

Goals of the two-year Child Care Aware include the expansion of child care training programs which will result in the training of 4,000 family child care providers through a Family to Family program, 500 of which will be accredited through national or local accreditation programs.