UPS announced Monday that it will no longer make donations to the Boy Scouts of America because the organization discriminates.
On its community-giving website, UPS wrote:
The UPS Foundation seeks to support organizations that are in alignment with our focus areas, guidelines, and non-discrimination policy. UPS and The UPS Foundation do not discriminate against any person or organization with regard to categories protected by applicable law, as well as other categories protected by UPS and The UPS Foundation in our own policies. These include, but are not limited to race, gender, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran or military status, pregnancy, age and religion.
In October, the Boy Scouts lost its largest donor, Intel, when the group Scouts for Equality convinced the corporation it shouldn’t fund organizations whose nondiscrimination policies contradict its own. Scouts for Equality founder Zach Wahls next targeted UPS because of its 100 percent rating on HRC’s Corporate Equality Index and for its high visibility. Wahls also told Dallas Voice that the timing coincided with the upcoming Christmas package delivery season.
“As one of more than 2,000 Eagle Scouts who are part of Scouts for Equality, it pains me to watch the Boy Scouts of America undermine all of the incredible work it has done to build America’s future leaders,” Wahls said in a press release Monday. “We join UPS in encouraging the BSA to adopt an inclusive membership policy and look forward to the full restoration of corporate support as soon as this policy is over.”
The BSA stands to lose $700,000 from Intel. Now the organization will lose another $167,000.
In its statement, UPS wrote that diversity drives the company’s business success. The company’s foundation makes donations under five categories — diversity, community safety, nonprofit effectiveness, environment, and economic and global literacy. According to the UPS Foundation’s 2009 annual report, the donation to the Boy Scouts was listed under its diversity category.
