Notably, Chick-fil-A never explicitly said it would permanently stop donating to anti-gay groups or organizations that discriminate against LGBTQ people - it just said it was changing its philanthropic giving model. “There are lots of articles and newscasts about Chick-fil-A, and we thought we needed to be clear about our message.” “There’s no question we know that, as we go into new markets, we need to be clear about who we are,” Tassopoulos told Bisnow. In an interview with real estate publication Bisnow, however, Chick-fil-A’s president and CEO Tim Tassopoulos made it clear that the company’s new donation strategy is at least partly related to the constant backlash Chick-fil-A has faced over its donations.
The release didn’t outright say the biggest change to Chick-fil-A’s philanthropic giving plan: In 2020, the chain won’t give any money to charities that take anti-LGBTQ stances. Those funds will be distributed to Junior Achievement USA, Covenant House International, and local food banks in cities where the chain opens new locations. The foundation has set aside $9 million for 2020 that will be split between three initiatives: promoting youth education, combating youth homelessness, and fighting hunger. The Chick-fil-A Foundation will instead take “a more focused giving approach,” Chick-fil-A announced in a Monday press release. The fast-food chain is changing its charitable giving approach in 2020 - and says, in an oblique way, that it will no longer donate to such organizations. Chick-fil-A is arguably best known for three things: its juicy chicken sandwiches, its employees’ perpetually chipper attitudes, and its long history of donating to charities with anti-LGBTQ stances.īut one of those things seems to be changing next year.