Church & Dwight - 1792 Exchange

Rating Overview

Church & Dwight is Medium Risk.

Church & Dwight Co Inc. is Medium Risk. The company often yields to political activism in shaping corporate governance, potentially alienating consumers, dividing employees, and harming shareholders. The company implements race and identity-based policies that replace merit, excellence, and integrity with preferential treatment and outcomes. The company occasionally embraces corporate initiatives that redirect its central focus from business goals to partisan policies and divisive issues at times. This approach fails to safeguard free exercise, free speech, and free enterprise.

Rating Criteria

Corporate Weaponization Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Cancellations	Medium Risk
Discriminatory Philanthropy	Lower Risk
Employment Protection	High Risk

Corporate Weaponization ⓘ

Corporate Governance and Public Policy Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Advocacy Bias	High Risk
Funding	High Risk
Political Actions	Lower Risk

Corporate Governance and Public Policy ⓘ

Rating Criteria Detail

Criteria Risk Level Rationale

Corporate Weaponization

Criteria:

Has canceled customers, suppliers, or vendors due to their political views or religious beliefs OR corporately boycotts, divests, or sanctions regions, people groups, or industries.

Risk Level:

Medium

Rationale:

Church & Dwight integrates ESG into its business practices. From its 2026 Proxy Statement: “In 2023, the Committee approved the inclusion of a fifth “strategic initiatives” metric in the Annual Incentive Plan to advance key long‑term priorities, including international expansion, environmental stewardship, and diversity and inclusion” (1). Church & Dwight has not publicly canceled customers, suppliers, or vendors based on political views or religious beliefs (2).

Criteria:

Charitable giving (including employee matching programs) policies or practices discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or religious beliefs.

Risk Level:

Lower

Rationale:

Church & Dwight does not discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or beliefs (1)(2).

Criteria:

Employment policies fail to protect against viewpoint or other discrimination and/or are ideological in nature.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Church & Dwight requires its employees to take DEI training (1). Church & Dwight does not provide viewpoint protections for its employees (2).

Corporate Governance and Public Policy

Criteria:

Uses corporate reputation to support causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Church & Dwight supports DEI within its business practices, employing a DEI Officer (1). Church & Dwight supports ESG within its business practices. From its Climate Change Policy: “. Our Corporate Issues Council, which has direct management responsibility for Church & Dwight’s sustainability program and ESG priorities, reports directly to the Governance and Nominating Committee. This framework for Board oversight is designed to facilitate the integration of sustainability risks, including climate change, into our overall strategic processes. In 2021, the Governance and Nominating Committee reviewed our Carbon Neutral by 2025 goal and reaffirmed our continued commitment to advance our position towards the Carbon Neutral goal by authorizing acquisition of additional certified forestry carbon credits for CY2021 and 2022 and endorsed establishing our science-based target commitment which was submitted to SBTi in December 2021” (2). The company is committed to carbon neutrality by 2025 (3).

Criteria:

Uses corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Church & Dwight is a corporate partner of the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (1). The company also sponsored HiTOPS annual half-marathon race which is an inclusive LGBTQ+ sex education company (2). Arm & Hammer donated $50,000 to Project Drawdown, an organization focused on combatting climate change (3). Vitafusion, a subsidiary of Church & Dwight, was a Bronze Tier corporate sponsor of the Trevor Project, an organization that advocates for controversial sex and gender ideology, including “gender transition” drugs and surgeries for minors, through legislation, litigation, advertising, and PR campaigns. The organization also hosts online chatrooms that allow adults to communicate with minors as young as 13 about sexually explicit topics. Adults in these chatrooms have encouraged minors to adopt transgender identities and withhold this information from their parents (4)(5)(6)(7)(8).