Target, Salvation Army reach fundraising deal

Steve Alexander And Chris Serres, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune

Published November 16, 2006 at midnight

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Target Corp. and the Salvation Army have reached a compromise over a long-running dispute about whether to allow bell ringers in front of Target stores.

For the third consecutive year, Target will ban bell ringers outside its stores because of its no-solicitation policy.

However, Target announced this week that it will donate $1 million to the Salvation Army this Christmas and provide customers with a link to the Salvation Army on its Web site, Target.com.

The Salvation Army had hoped Target would change its 2004 decision to exclude bell ringers from its stores, said Annette Bauer, a spokeswoman for the Salvation Army.

But when it became apparent that Target was not going to change its policy, the Salvation Army welcomed the new donation arrangement, she said.

The $1 million being donated by Target is less than the $8 million that bell ringers raised at Target stores nationwide as recently as Christmas 2003.

"While this is a lesser amount of money, the important thing is that we have an ongoing relationship with Target," Bauer said.

Target's decision to ban bell ringers alarmed many of its customers, in part because the company is known for its generosity to charities. Since 1946, Target has contributed 5 percent of its taxable income to the communities where it does business. Today, Target gives more than $2 million a week to communities nationwide.

For years, the Salvation Army was the only nonprofit allowed to solicit at Target's stores.

"We had hoped there would be a change of mind," Bauer said. "But then we realized we were past that point and that we needed to work with Target to find ways to replace the bell-ringer revenues that were lost."

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