In 2013, we launched AmazonSmile to make it easier for customers to support their favorite charities. However, after almost a decade, the program has not grown to create the impact that we had originally hoped. With so many eligible organizations—more than 1 million globally—our ability to have an impact was often spread too thin.
We are writing to let you know that we plan to wind down AmazonSmile by February 20, 2023. We will continue to pursue and invest in other areas where we’ve seen we can make meaningful change—from building affordable housing to providing access to computer science education for students in underserved communities to using our logistics infrastructure and technology to assist broad communities impacted by natural disasters.
To help charities that have been a part of the AmazonSmile program with this transition, we will be providing them with a one-time donation equivalent to three months of what they earned in 2022 through the program, and they will also be able to accrue additional donations until the program officially closes in February. Once AmazonSmile closes, charities will still be able to seek support from Amazon customers by creating their own wish lists.
As a company, we will continue supporting a wide range of other programs that help thousands of charities and communities across the U.S.
Hmm…odd. Was the point of Amazon smile to make a big difference for Amazon? Because I think that the little gains for oodles and oodles of nonprofits is what should matter.
As said above this was a simple thing non profits could do to raise a little money.
Reading this just really irks me. Considering how much money they get from people, especially Amazon Prime folk, sending 0.5% of sales to nonprofits doesn’t seem like something they would need to stop. This is definitely making me rethink our family’s Amazon Prime membership.
I got this email too. It didn’t make much sense to me. I wondered if they just want to get to choose their charities and not be beholden to our (consumers’) choices.
Amazon has also and is continuing to discontinue several thousand employees.
Presumably Amazon Smile was not (or no longer) enhancing sales (however they tracked that). It was also an unknown cost, dependent on which customers enabled Smile on their accounts and how much they spent. Now they will have control of their charitable and societal spending costs.
If they wanted to limit the number of charities who received funds, they could have just limited the list of eligible charities. They may want to make a bigger splash with their giving.
I’m sure “their” charities will benefit them more from a tax perspective. I’m just nauseated by Amazon right now. The more I learn the less inclined I am to be a Prime member.
And where will that money go now? Likely onto the pockets of the execs. Makes me crazy. I can’t imagine administering this is all that hard with some well designed program.
Our charity got about $500 a year which was used to support a specific program. With smaller charities…$500 is a lot of money.
If they were tracking increased sales or more and different buyers, that’s likely why they are ditching it. Everyone I know who signed up already shopped Amazon anyway.
Yeah, my little town’s animal welfare shelter got about $1.3k from this program. They scrap for every dime; they get zero government funding, and there’s no ASPCA in town, just a dog warden with a gun. I’m pretty upset.
Right, this is sort of my point - while $500 seems like peanuts to many, to a small org it is the funds to take care of a small program or need.
Amazon wishlists. My non-profit program has one. I have to continually promote it though for people to even think about visiting it. With Smile, once people sign up, $ action takes place. Less work for the non-profit who is already juggling staff time and energy - cause that is the non-profit world!
I also wonder if Amazon benefits MORE from the wishlists - as these are items “extra” that someone buys. So for instance, I go on Amazon and order cleaning products for my home. But I do that all the time. But if I decide to support a wishlist that is EXTRA purchasing coming from me - which benefits Amazon more.
I have always used Amazon smile, and my undergraduate college is my designated charity. They have received over $1000 through me alone (we use Amazon a lot, as you may have guessed).
I am surprised. I was told that in some of their other businesses they gave a very long notice period (sometimes as long as 10 years) before they sunset services
No surprise. They never promoted it correctly. You had to make an effort to use Amazon Smile. It should have been the default. Greedy, especially considering how much money they make.
My daughter has stuck by her guns and hasn’t used Amazon for five years. I try not to use it as much as possible. I’m going to try harder now. It’s always about lining their pockets.
This makes me unhappy. And I have generally been an Amazon supporter, because it has made my life better…more selection, lower prices, and fewer trips to Target or Costco or wherever. I know that might not be a popular take on CC, and I do know there have been consequences on mom and pops and sales tax collection etc, but I really appreciated those benefits in the primary child rearing years while working full time.
It didn’t make much sense to me. I wondered if they just want to get to choose their charities and not be beholden to our (consumers’) choices.