Family Dollar believes contributions should be consistent with both the commitment to communities and to shareholders. Consequently, our budget for charitable contributions is reallocated each fiscal year and will be reviewed quarterly against the Company’s financial performance. While we encourage organizations to submit a request based on their needs, our typical grant is $250 or less. This enables us to maximize our support of local programs in the neighborhoods in which we operate.
To maximize the impact of our charitable giving within our budgetary limits, we will limit our contributions to one grant per organization per fiscal year (September – August), and we will not provide repetitive annual grants or continuing support for organizations or programs. We will review requests from organizations that have received previous support from Family Dollar as new requests and will evaluate the request in relation to other submitted proposals and budgetary considerations.
Our contribution efforts will be focused in the neighborhoods in which we operate. Consequently, Family Dollar will limit our support of national organizations (e.g. United Way, March of Dimes, Alzheimer’s Association) to chapters within the Charlotte, NC, area and to chapters that operate in areas supported by one of our nine distribution centers.
No support will be extended to religious activities or programs that serve, or appear to serve, specific religious groups or denominations. However, if a proposal submitted by a church-based or similar organization falls clearly within program guidelines and is intended to serve a broad segment of the community as the program of a comparable non-religious organization, we will consider the request on the same basis as other requests.
While Family Dollar believes in the value of all charitable endeavors, generally our contributions program will not provide funds for:
1. Ads in programs, yearbooks or other fundraising vehicles;
2. Benefits for individuals or individual families;
3. Sports teams or athletic events;
4. The construction or renovation of facilities;
5. Political campaigns, programs or events;
6. Student trips or tours;
7. Organizations that discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, gender, age, sexual orientation or national origin;
8. Organizations in states or countries not served by Family Dollar;
9. Memberships in Chambers of Commerce;
10. Animal welfare programs or organizations;
11. Conferences, seminars, or gala fundraisers.
We work hard to provide customers with low-priced, quality merchandise. Consequently, Family Dollar will not offer additional discounts on our merchandise.