Executive director Andi Otto says they reached their $50,000 goal in less than 24 hours. This follows the decision to remove Target from the Twin Cities Pride festival this year because of the company’s announcement to end DEI efforts.

The group’s decision is a response to the retailer’s plans to roll back diversity and inclusion initiatives, Executive Director Andi Otto said Sunday.

Twin Cities Pride decided to cut ties with Target as a sponsor, which meant losing $50,000 of funding for the year.

Twin Cities Pride executive director Andi Otto says the nonprofit made the decision because Target is not standing up “against those who are fighting against us.”

Twin Cities Pride raised more than $50,000 to fill a gap in fundraising after booting Target from the list of festival sponsors. The Minneapolis retailer sparked an outcry from the public following an announcement that they would retreat from their diversity goals amid pressure from conservative activists.

The national retail chain Target is scaling back socially progressive policies, including phasing out its diversity and inclusion policies

We are deeply disappointed in their announcement,” Andi Otto, executive director of Twin Cities Pride, said on social media on Friday. We are committed to continuing conversations with them about the impact it has on our community and those in our community who are their employees.

Twin Cities Pride is blocking one of its long-time partners from festival activities this summer. Less than a week after ending their diversity efforts, Target has been told that it won’t have a presence at the Twin Cities Pride festival and parade.