THE HOME DEPOT, INC. | Disclosure of corporate contributions at THE HOME DEPOT, INC.

Status
Filed
AGM date
Previous AGM date
Proposal number
6
Resolution details
Company ticker
HD
Lead filer
National Center for Public Policy
Resolution ask
Report on or disclose
ESG theme
  • Governance
Type of vote
Shareholder proposal
Filer type
Shareholder
Company sector
Consumer Discretionary
Company HQ country
United States
Resolved clause
Resolved: The Proponent requests that the Board of Directors list on the Company website any recipient of
material donations from the company, excluding employee matching gifts. Optimally, this list would include
recipients of $5,000 or more, or would include an explanation of why the relevant donations are not material
to the company but still appropriate for the company to undertake.
Whereas clause
Whereas: Corporate contributions should enhance the image of our Company in the eyes of the public.
Increased disclosure of these contributions would serve to create greater goodwill for our Company. It would
also allow the public to better voice its opinions on our corporate giving strategy. Inevitably, some
organizations might be viewed more favorably than others. This could be useful in guiding our Company’s
public policy and philanthropic decision making in the future. Corporate giving should ultimately enhance
shareholder value in line with the Company’s fiduciary duty.
Supporting statement
Supporting statement: The Company’s record of revealed corporate giving raises concerns that it is
undertaking or may undertake corporate giving that endangers the Company’s market position and share
price.
In the wake of rioting in the summer of 2020, the Company contributed $1 million to the Lawyers Committee
for Civil Rights Under Law, an organization that opposes cash bail and other sensible public-safety
measures.1
In the wake of that donation and the adoption of such radical policies, Home Depot and other
businesses have faced a massive increase in shoplifting and violent criminal behavior that puts its business
and workers at significant risk.2
Likewise, it has partnered with the HRC’s “Welcoming Schools Program,” which works to sow gender
confusing amongst primary-school age children, especially the most vulnerable.3
These donations and partnerships create concern that the Company is using shareholder assets for
charitable activity that threatens Company profitability and public safety. Shareholders thus need to know
about all of the Company’s material contributions, to determine whether they foster financial and reputational
harm.
Recent events have made clear that company bottom-lines, and therefore value to shareholders, drop when
companies engage in overtly political and divisive partnerships. Following Bud Light’s embrace of
partisanship, its revenue fell $395 million in North America when compared to the same time a year ago.4
This
amounts to roughly 10 percent of its revenue in the months following its leap into contentious politics.5
Target
Corporation’s market cap fell over $15 billion amid backlash for similar actions.6
And Disney stock fell 44
percent in 2022 – its worst performance in nearly 50 years – amid its decision to put extreme partisan
agendas ahead of parents’ rights.7

1. https://corporate.homedepot.com/news/diversity-equity-inclusion/message-craig-menear-racial-equality-justice-all;
https://www.lawyerscommittee.org/project/criminal-justice-project/
2. https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/home-depot-ceo-warns-theft-tsunami-big-problem
3. https://welcomingschools.org/
4. https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/03/business/anheuser-busch-revenue-bud-light-intl-hnk/index.html;
5. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/aug/03/bud-light-revenue-sales-anheuser-busch
6. https://www.foxbusiness.com/media/target-market-cap-losses-hit-15-7-billion-share-near-52-week-low-amid-wokebacklash; https://nypost.com/2023/05/23/target-to-remove-some-lgbtq-merchandise-after-facing-customer-backlash/?
dicbo=v2-x4CMNWo

7. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/economy/disney-has-lost-50-billion-in-value-since-war-with-florida-began;
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/disney-stock-2022-1235289239/;
https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/disney-stock-price-decline-bob-iger-pandemic-inflation-recessionstreaming-2022-12; https://www.foxnews.com/media/disneys-decline-shows-woke-focus-alienating-fans-wsj-column

How other organisations have declared their voting intentions

Organisation name Declared voting intentions Rationale
Kutxabank Gestion SGIIC SAU. Against

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