Institutional shareholders are
demanding Target overhaul its campaign donation policies as a boycott
over an anti-gay donation gains steam, the Los Angeles Times
reported.
On Thursday, three management firms
announced they have sponsored a resolution demanding the retail giant
rethink its donation policies to avoid future potential political hot
button issues.
The action comes just days after the
progressive group MoveOn.org launched a new ad urging shoppers to
boycott the retail giant for contributing $150,000 to MN Forward, an
independent political fund supporting Tom Emmer, the anti-gay
Republican nominee for Minnesota governor. The Minnesota-based
business apologized for the donation but rejected a request from the
Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest gay rights
advocate, to give an equal amount of money to a pro-gay candidate.
Emmer has been linked to the Christian
rock band You Can Run But You Can't Hide International, whose
members strongly oppose gay rights. He also opposes the right
of gay men and lesbians to marry.
The Facebook page Boycott
Target Until They Cease Funding Anti-Gay Politics has
attracted nearly 70,000 members. But social conservatives opposed to
the boycott have also begun to organize. Their page
I
Will NOT Boycott Target for Supporting a Conservative Candidate
has over 20,000 members and features a Target logo emblazoned with
the words “RIGHT ON.”
Tim Smith, a senior vice president at
Walden Asset Management, which is sponsoring the resolution along
with Calvert Asset Management and Trillium Asset Management,
cautioned that “imprudent donations can potentially have a major
negative impact on company reputations and businesses if they don't
carefully and fully assess a candidate's positions.”
While together the firms hold $57.5
million of Target stock, it's only a small fraction of the company's
outstanding shares. However, other institutional shareholders are
considering signing on to the resolution.
Electronics giant Best Buy Co. and
other Minnesota-based businesses – including Red Wing Shoes and
Polaris Industries, Inc., a manufacturer of snowmobiles – are also
being criticized for contributing to MN Forward. Many critics,
however, say they feel a sense of betrayal from Target, which gave
the most money and has a strong history of supporting the gay
community.