Mailchimp - 1792 Exchange

Rating Overview

Mailchimp is High Risk.

Mailchimp is High Risk. The company 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. Mailchimp embraces corporate initiatives that redirect its central focus from business goals to partisan policies and divisive issues. This approach fails to safeguard free exercise, free speech, and free enterprise.

Rating Criteria

Corporate Weaponization Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Cancellations	High 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	No Data

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:

High

Rationale:

Mailchimp temporarily suspended The Babylon Bee for “violating our standard terms of use and acceptable use policy”. Mailchimp later claimed it was a mistake, but the Babylon Bee switched platforms regardless to avoid potential further cancellation (1). The company also terminated the account of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, a 2nd Amendment support group (2). Mailchimp de-platformed the Northern Virginia Tea Party (3). The company de-platformed the group, Russian Faith, from using its emailing services without any warning or explanation (4). In May 2023, Mailchimp suspended an account linked to Senator J.D. Vance after Donald Trump announced his support for Sen. Vance’s Railway Safety Act (5).

Criteria:

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

Risk Level:

Lower

Rationale:

Mailchimp does not publish charitable giving guidelines (1)(2).

Criteria:

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

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Mailchimp requires unconscious bias trainings for its employees (1). The company 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:

Mailchimp opposed the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act, which would prohibit teaching gender identity and sexual orientation to kids in K-3rd grade (1)(2). The company specifically boosted voting registration efforts in Georgia, later denouncing the state’s efforts to secure the electoral process and advocated for the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (3)(4)(5). Mailchimp’s CEO Ben Chestnut is a signatory of CEOs For Gun Safety (6). The company opposed various state and local legislation intended to protect parental rights, girls’ sports, bathroom facilities, and gendered spaces (7)(8). Mailchimp opposed legislation in Iowa intended to protect parental rights, girls’ sports, bathroom facilities, and gendered spaces (9).

Criteria:

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

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Mailchimp has donated to Black Lives Matter (1). The company partnered with an advocacy group to fund hormone replacement therapy and “gender-affirming products and treatments”, though it is unclear whether these services were to be extended to youths under the age of 18 (2). Otherwise, there are no publicly known cases of Mailchimp using corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies (3).

Criteria:

Uses corporate political actions and/or financial contributions for ideological, non-business purposes.

Risk Level:

N/A

Rationale:

Mailchimp does not operate a PAC or engage in lobbying at this time (1)(2)(3).