Give with Target

Campaign: Give with Target
Company: Target
Nonprofit Partner: Selected Public Schools
Launch Date: July 26, 2012

Campaign Description:

Target plans to donate $5 million to schools as part of its ‘Give With Target’ cause marketing initiative this fall. The two-part back-to-school campaign provides $2.5 million in grants to in-need schools, as well as up to $2.5 million in Target GiftCards to local schools through votes on Target’s Facebook page. For every 25 votes a school receives via the Facebook application, Target will donate a $25 Target GiftCard, with a maximum donation of $10,000 per school.

Our Take:

We asked Target why they chose to work directly with schools and Target’s Jenna Reck shared that ‘Target believes that schools know their own needs and can use the funds and gift cards for items that they deem most important.’ According to Reck, Target worked closely with superintendents across the country to select the schools that will receive the $25k grants, all are in-need elementary schools, have demonstrated academic improvement and have 70%+ of the students eligible for free/reduced lunch.

Education has long been a focus area for Target (on track to give $1 Billion for education by 2015) and what better time to roll out a sizable cause initiative than the competitive back-to-school season? The Facebook integration has pre-selected schools from which to choose and voters are encouraged to vote weekly for their school of choice, a perfect strategy for keeping Target top-of-mind during this busy back-to-school time when retailers compete fervently for both attention and loyalty.