Target 2003 Annual Report Download - page 16

14
Corporate Citizenship
What makes a good corporate citizen? At Target, it’s a commitment
to community giving, inclusive environments for our team members
and guests, and a strong and focused approach to governance.
Public involvement has been a key component of our corporate
strategy and operations for decades and it remains an inherent
element of our future direction and brand image.
uilding Healthy, Safe Communities Local,
national and international challenges continue
to affect our guests’ lives and, therefore, our
business. Target contributes over two million
dollars a week and thousands of volunteer
hours to programs that strengthen families and build
stronger communities through education, arts, social
services, and other vital community partnerships. And
although we’ve always supported education, we’ve
expanded our commitment in innovative ways.
• Through Take Charge of Education (TCOE), our school
fundraising initiative, we’ve contributed more than
$100 million to create opportunities for teachers,
students and schools.
• Because reading ability is a key component in life-long
learning, we partner with organizations that seek to
improve childhood reading, such as Reach Out & Read,
the U.S. Department of Education and through numer-
ous book festivals across the country. Our own Ready.
Sit. Read! program at Target, Go Read! at Marshall
Field’s and Go Places. Read! at Mervyn’s leverage the
power of Target Corporation to connect children across
the nation with books.
• Target Corporation and the Tiger Woods Foundation
are partners in Start Something, a program that helps
participants ages 8 to 17 identify and realize their
dreams. To date, two million children have enrolled.
Target Corporation also remains committed to increasing
access to the arts. For example, we sponsor a Marshall
Field’s Day of Music in Detroit, Minneapolis and Chicago.
In San Francisco, we sponsor Target Tuesdays at the Asian
Art Museum. And, families in Southern California enjoy
musical productions as part of ‘Mervyn’s Musical Mornings.’
In 2003, Target extended its giving overseas with the
AMC International Grant Program, which funds accessible,
quality educational opportunities for children in 20 countries
where AMC has offices. Because they are administered
at the local level, these grants help communities help
themselves, building leadership and momentum for
future successes.
During the year, Target also helped address critical
safety issues in our store communities. For example, in
Minnesota, Target partnered with the State of Minnesota
to create CriMNet, an integrated database that links more
B
Corporate Governance
“We have long believed that
a strong board makes a first-
class management even
stronger, that a professional
board makes management
even more professional, that
an optimum relationship
between board and manage-
ment creates an almost
unbelievable dynamic, and
that the ideal board setup
is the corporation’s best
protection of its future …
It is for this reason that we
have given a tremendous
amount of time and thought
to matters of corporate
governance—to its philosophy
and structure.”
— Kenneth N. Dayton, January 1984