Chick-fil-A plans to end cash donations to the Salvation Army and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in 2020 after years of criticism from LGBT and human rights groups.

In its new philanthropic giving plan announced Monday, the fast food chain’s foundation has dramatically narrowed the number of charities it will support and excluded controversial Christian organizations it has come under fire for backing.

The Salvation Army said in a statement Monday it was “saddened to learn that a corporate partner has felt it necessary to divert funding to other hunger, education and homelessness organizations — areas in which The Salvation Army, as the largest social services provider in the world, is already fully committed.”

The Fellowship of Christian Athletes was not immediately available for comment.

As Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A has expanded its footprint internationally, it’s been met with resistance from progressive critics and headlines that have impeded the company’s growth, a Chick-fil-A executive told Bisnow, a digital media and events firm.

In March, Chick-fil-A’s philanthropic giving made headlines in Texas when San Antonio City Council was reviewing new vendors for its airport concessions. It voted to approve the vendors, providing Chick-fil-A was not included. City leaders cited the company’s financial support of anti-LGBT organizations.

The airport debate drew the ire of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who called the city council decision to exclude Chick-fil-A discrimination against the company’s religious beliefs. His office opened an investigation into the matter and the flare up in San Antonio kicked off a nationwide reconsideration of airport Chick-fil-A locations.

The City of San Antonio’s decision to exclude Chick-fil-A based on the religious beliefs associated with the company and its owners is the opposite of tolerance. It’s discriminatory, and not only out of step with Texas values, but inconsistent with the Constitution and Texas law. pic.twitter.com/iOk7G9Eltv — Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) March 28, 2019

Republican lawmakers in Texas seized on the San Antonio airport debate introducing a bill during the last legislative session referred to as the “Save Chick-fil-A” bill. It was signed by the Gov. Greg Abbott over the summer and was seen by supporters as protecting religious freedoms. It intended to stop the government from taking adverse action against a business or person for their contributions or memberships in religious organizations.

Liberal and LGBT advocacy groups warned the bill was a thinly veiled attempt to give government the tools to justify discrimination against historically disenfranchised groups.

Chick-fil-A’s philanthropic shift is an acknowledgment that donations to some faith-based organizations perceived as espousing anti-LGBT values were harmful to the company’s brand as it began expanding. The company’s efforts to expand in some countries outside the U.S. have been met with intense backlash. It can also be seen as a considerable about-face for a company whose business model is rooted in its late founder’s Christian faith.

Founder S. Truett Cathy, a devout Baptist, famously held that the company’s decision to close on Sunday’s was so that “he and his employees could set aside one day to rest and worship if they choose.” And his son, Dan, now the company’s CEO, told a Baptist website in 2012 that the restaurant chain is “guilty as charged” in its support of traditional marriage.

Though Chick-fil-A has periodically adjusted the list of organizations to which it donates to explicitly avoid supporting entities that directly fund anti-LGBT action, activists have voiced opposition to its continued support of groups that have policies that exclude individuals who identify as LGBT.

The Salvation Army has disavowed claims it discriminates against any individual, saying it serves "everyone no matter who they are, what their sexual orientation is, what their station in life is. We serve without discrimination.” The comment was prompted by pop star Ellie Goulding nearly calling off her halftime performance at the Dallas Cowboys’ Thanksgiving game over concerns about the group’s alleged discriminatory views. Salvation Army leaders eventually convinced Goulding that wasn’t the case.

In the past, the Salvation Army has come under fire for supporting legislation allowing it to deny employment and federally funded services to LGBT individuals. The organization offers health care benefits to same-sex couples and has taken steps locally to make transgender people seeking shelter more comfortable.

A recent report from ThinkProgress detailed Chick-fil-A’s $1.8 million in donations in 2017 to groups it considered as having discriminatory practices, including the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. That organization requires its employees to adhere to a strict “sexual purity” policy barring any “homosexual acts.”

Chick-fil-A’s charitable arm may still partner with faith-based organizations in the future, according to a Monday statement from the company.

“Our goal is to donate to the most effective organizations in the areas of education, homelessness and hunger. No organization will be excluded from future consideration – faith-based or non-faith based,” president and chief operating officer Tim Tassopoulos said.

When contacted by The Dallas Morning News, Chick-fil-A declined to provide more detail on its exclusion of the Salvation Army and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes from future philanthropic efforts.

“We made multiyear commitments to both organizations, and we fulfilled those obligations in 2018,” Chick-fil-A said in a statement. "Moving forward you will see that the Chick-fil-A Foundation will support the three specific initiatives of homelessness, hunger and education and will reassess its philanthropic partnerships annually to allow maximum impact.'

However, Chick-fil-A told Bisnow it would avoid donating to faith-based charities that espouse anti-LGBT views.

The change in how Chick-fil-A handles its philanthropic giving includes a pivot for its foundation’s mission. It will now focus specifically on deeper, more selective donations that address education, homelessness and hunger, according to its 2020 priorities.

A charitable giving report from 2018 details how the company’s foundation gave more than $12 million to various charities over the course of the year. A total of $115,000 was given in the form of grants to the Salvation Army to support an effort providing children in need with gifts at Christmas. It also gave $825,000 to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in 2018.

The company’s giving report also details six-figure donations toward efforts its progressive critics would likely support, including combating issues like intergenerational poverty among African Americans.

Chick-fil-A has more than 400 locations across Texas. the nation’s third-largest fast food chain in America with $10.5 billion in sales, according to Nation’s Restaurant News.