Target is a retailing business formed in 1902 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was formerly known as the Dayton Dry Goods Company. It is the second biggest discount retailer company in the US; the first is Walmart. As of 2009, the company is listed as 28th on the Fortune 500.

Target’s Take Charge of Education is a school fundraising initiative that allows Target credit card holders to assign up to 1% of their credit card purchases to any K-12 school they wish to donate to. In order to contribute to schools, card holders must first sign up for it, apply for a REDcard and get it approved.

As of today, there are over 102,000 academic institutions and about 3.5 million Target consumers who take part in the program. Now that it is in its 10th year of operations, the company has given over $200 million to participating schools.

Aside from this, the Target Field Trip Grants Program, which was formed in 2006, promotes active learning in distributing field trip grants. In its first year, the program awarded 800 teachers from all over the country with about $800,000. Parents can also contribute to the program, in cooperation with schools, by signing up via the Web.