Patagonia Made $10 Million On Black Friday and Is Donating Every Last Dime to Charity

Megan Friedman
Updated

From Country Living

Update, 11/29/2016: Last week, Patagonia announced that it would be donating all of its Black Friday sales to charity, specifically to environmental organizations. According to Huffington Post, the company's sales on Black Friday reached $10 million-and Patagonia intends to make good on its promise. In a blog post on its site, Patagonia announced that its 2016 Black Friday sales were record-breaking, and that customers were calling the effort a "fundraiser for the earth."

"The enormous love our customers showed to the planet on Black Friday enables us to give every penny to hundreds of grassroots environmental organizations working around the world," said the release."Many of these environmental groups are underfunded and under the radar, and they are overwhelmed with your commitment. On behalf of these activists and every Patagonia employee, we extend a heartfelt thank you to our customers, friends and community worldwide who showed up to #loveourplanet."

Original, 11/23/2016: When Black Friday shopping rolls around each holiday season, it can be easy to get disillusioned about crowds fighting for all that stuff. There's always Giving Tuesday, the Tuesday after Black Friday dedicated to charity. But now, CNN Money reports that outdoor-wear chain Patagonia will let you shop and give at the same time this year.

The company announced Monday it will donate all of its Black Friday sales, which could exceed $2 million, to grassroots environmental groups that aim to protect natural resources. The donations will come from all sales, both online and in person. The company already donates 1% of its everyday sales to these charities, but this is the first year they're donating all the sales from a single day. The proceeds will go to a network of nearly 800 different charities.

"We definitely came up with the idea after the election," Lisa Pike Sheehy, vice president of environmental activism at Patagonia, told CNN. "This is a difficult and divisive time for our country. I believe the environment is something we can all come together on. ... Environmental values are something we all embrace."

In a company blog post, Patagonia notes that the charities they support are usually small, underfunded, and don't get a lot of attention. They will also feature information on their website about how to get actively involved in these charities, way beyond Black Friday.

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