1792 Exchange CEO Doug Napier used an exclusive appearance on Breitbart News Daily to say that corporations should stop relying on Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) designations in employee charitable-giving programs and demand that Benevity remove a “discredited, unreliable bias filter” from its software.
Napier told host Mike Slater that 1792 Exchange “was formed to go after corporate behavior” and is “the leading supplier of actionable data on corporate bias,” saying the group works to get corporations “back to neutral,” “back to business,” and focused on “shareholder value, customer service, and treating their employees well.”
The interview turned to the SPLC after Slater said the White House had contended that “the indictment of the criminal organization SPLC” should be “front page news everywhere.” Napier explained the indictment contains “11 counts” that fall into “basically three categories”: “wire fraud, false statements to a federally insured bank,” and “a conspiracy to basically launder money.” According to Napier, the indictment accuses the SPLC of using nonprofit donations to “pay informants” and others within groups it had listed as extremist or hate groups.
Napier said companies should scrutinize whether their charitable-giving programs rely on SPLC-based filters, arguing that corporate America has “consumed their messaging” and “spit it back out.” He specifically pointed to Benevity, a platform companies use to manage employee charitable-giving and matching programs, saying the SPLC is “not a reliable objective source,” has been “discredited forever,” and is “certainly under the shadow of an indictment.”
Napier said 1792 Exchange had identified “over 200 companies” that use Benevity and that he sent “a personal letter to every one of them” urging action. His concern, he said, is that Benevity’s use of the SPLC’s “hate list as a filter” can deprive organizations the SPLC disfavors of employee charitable matches.
Napier said the problem is that SPLC’s list has been used to block organizations he described as “worthwhile” charitable causes and “legitimate groups.” He cited “Focus on the Family,” “Pacific Justice Institute,” “Family Research Council,” “Turning Point USA,” and “Moms for Liberty,” and said pro-life organizations appear on SPLC’s “extremist files list” under “male supremacy,” while groups that support traditional marriage are placed on the “hate list.” Napier said the SPLC list can become “a filter that companies have been using to deprive worthy organizations of matches.”
Napier also pointed to the 2012 armed attack at the Family Research Council (FRC) building, saying the gunman targeted FRC after seeing the group on SPLC’s “hate list.” He mentioned Charlie Kirk being put on the list before he was shot, while adding, “I don’t know if there’s been a tie directly connected.”
Napier said 1792 Exchange also wrote to Benevity’s CEO to say the SPLC-related filter should be removed from the company’s software. “Take it out,” he said, adding that the group has “heard crickets from Benevity.”
Asked what he wants Benevity to do, Napier said the company should “quit using this discredited, unreliable bias filter” and companies should ensure a “level playing field” for charitable giving. In a follow-up exchange, he said companies should not “rely on the SPLC to do your homework” and should instead work on “creating the criteria” through a process that is “fair” and “objective.”
Napier said the SPLC indictment should be a warning to corporate America, asserting that “a lot of these companies, quite frankly, have ceded a lot of their decision-making to third-party activist organizations.” He said many companies are now saying, “enough is enough.”
The interview also touched on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate (HRC) Equality Index, which Napier said began in 2002 with a standard focused on not discriminating against gays and lesbians in hiring but later added “more and more” requirements for companies seeking a score of 100. He said groups like “the SPLC and HRC” draw companies into doing “their activist work for them,” and said that “last year we saw 65 percent drop in participation in the corporate equality index among the Fortune 500 companies.”
Napier closed by urging employees to contact 1792 Exchange if they tried to get a charitable match for an organization and “it was turned down,” especially if it was “a conservative Christian organization.” He also said employees with information about their company “drinking the Kool-Aid from SPLC or HRC” should contact the group.
Breitbart News Daily airs on SiriusXM Patriot 125 from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Eastern.