Home Depot as Philanthropist: 29 cents per week on Home Services

Nov

Home Depot as Philanthropist: 29 cents per week

posted by admin in Home Depot

Every HD store has a budget for making contributions to local community organizations, says HD. Its workers volunteer their time to make our communities better places to live. We do more than just hand our checks to charities, says HD, we help make advances in community service, environmental concerns, etc. The fact is, HD says it contributed $8.6 million to charity in 1996, a year in which total sales exceeded $19.5 billion. By comparison, if a family with $35,000 gave at the same rate as HD, it would equal a donation in the church plate of 29 cents per week. Not much to write home about.

Furthermore, half of many gifts come from the workers, not from the company. Under the matching gift program, the worker’s gift is matched 50 cents on the dollar by Home Depot. The Team Depot program is a group of employees in a store that offers its time to work on a community project. Workers are reminded that HD does not pay for time spent helping the community: Participation in Team Depot takes place during your personal time.

Home Depot does not allow non-associate groups, like the Girl Scouts, church groups, Boy Scouts, the military, etc. to raise funds on Home Depot sidewalks or parking lots.