Amazon "winding down" Smile (charity program)

[JoeWras]

From Amazon:

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

I do all my purchases through the Smile link, and my very small charity apparently has others doing the same. The charity gets about $80 to $100 per quarter.

Every bit helps.

Oh well. The tech industry has made a sudden reversal and they are finding every possible way to cut costs.

 

[plex]

My charity was getting about $10k per quarter, it was just an individual animal shelter, apparently a lot of people selected them. This will probably be a fairly big drop for them. I enjoyed using the program for the decade+ I was on it.

 

[FLSUnFIRE]

I used smile too - It didn't make me more likely to purchase from Amazon but it was a nice easy way to help out my charity. I use Amazon less and less as the competition has got better -Still probably 75% of my online purchases.



I'm in the FIRE ecosystem so not leaving them and am still an Amazon fan but not happy with the "upgraded" Amazon Music and am tired of having to listen to upgrade suggestions every time I stream music. I'm considering dropping Prime and just combining purchases for free shipping like the "old days." I have a few months to decide but I'm fine with slower shipping and I sort of rationalized the cost of Prime as also providing media content but the value of that has declined for me these last few years.

 

[JoeWras]

My charity was getting about $10k per quarter, it was just an individual animal shelter, apparently a lot of people selected them. This will probably be a fairly big drop for them. I enjoyed using the program for the decade+ I was on it.

That's $2M in purchases! Holy cow. There would have to be a LOT of people for such a local charity.

 

[Venturer]

My DGD's school gets the benefit from of our Amazon as well as the Kroger program. I don't know how much they get but I'm sure it all is helpful. My DD told us about another program that I can take advantage of where I can give the school my state taxes or the equalevent amount. She is getting the forms for ust to use for this.

 

[Amethyst]

Or finding other ways to avoid taxes.

From Amazon:


The tech industry has made a sudden reversal and they are finding every possible way to cut costs.

 

[ncbill]

The charity I picked was getting a pittance...under $100/year IIRC.

Guess I'll just contribute that to them directly now.

 

[Sojourner]

Yeah, not good news for many of these charities, especially the smaller ones. I've been supporting Hope For Paws, which "rescues dogs, cats and other types of animals suffering on the streets or neglected in the wild." They've received nearly $400K from the Smile program so far, and I can't imagine how they'll manage to replace donation money of that magnitude once Smile is gone.

Guess I'll just contribute that to them directly now.

This is exactly what I plan to do for Hope For Paws.

 

[Aerides]

Arguably, Amazon made more profit themselves, in the good will advertising of this feature, and the inclination of some shoppers to push more spending there, than they actually gave to charities. It was a pittance. Still, for some it will suck and hopefully most of us will give directly.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I used smile too - It didn't make me more likely to purchase from Amazon but it was a nice easy way to help out my charity. I use Amazon less and less as the competition has got better -Still probably 75% of my online purchases.



I'm in the FIRE ecosystem so not leaving them and am still an Amazon fan but not happy with the "upgraded" Amazon Music and am tired of having to listen to upgrade suggestions every time I stream music. I'm considering dropping Prime and just combining purchases for free shipping like the "old days." I have a few months to decide but I'm fine with slower shipping and I sort of rationalized the cost of Prime as also providing media content but the value of that has declined for me these last few years.

Oh boy, Amazon Music and the mess that has become. That gets my blood BOILING!

Like you, we are pretty caught up in the AMZN ecosphere but I think the Smile program is the last straw for me. I find little value in anything with Amazon Prime, so I will be moving on when the subscription is up.

 

[Amethyst]

Like some others, I regret that the charity I designated for "Smile" will no longer get my few dollars.

It won't affect my Amazon habits, such as they are. Amazon is a tool in my ordering toolbox, no more.

I've got a free month of Prime, and have barely used it.

 

[audreyh1]

DH has religiously used this since inception. But he gives far more to the same charity anyway, so no meaningful difference.

 

[audreyh1]

Oh boy, Amazon Music and the mess that has become. That gets my blood BOILING!

Like you, we are pretty caught up in the AMZN ecosphere but I think the Smile program is the last straw for me. I find little value in anything with Amazon Prime, so I will be moving on when the subscription is up.

I haven’t messed around with Amazon Music because even though we have Amazon Prime and will keep it, we are mostly tied into the Apple ecosystem and we both absolutely adore Apple Music.

 

[Major Tom]

My charity was getting about $10k per quarter, it was just an individual animal shelter, apparently a lot of people selected them. This will probably be a fairly big drop for them. I enjoyed using the program for the decade+ I was on it.

There is a kitty rescue local to me, who also get funds from Amazon Smile. They are good at fund-raising, and although they have been getting a not insignificant amount from this program, I believe it is relatively small compared to what they raise through other channels. Nevertheless, every bit helps. I liked knowing that my purchases were helping them, albeit in a small way.

 

[RetiredAt55.5]

A snippet from the email I received -

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.

Uh huh. Nothing to do with Amazon's job cuts, or it's fallen share price.

They're a for profit company so they can do whatever they choose to. But, it annoys the hell out of me when I get the corporate tap dancing show and the "ignore the man behind the curtain". Just be honest about it that it was a cost savings decision.

 

[Dash man]

My church would get about $250/qtr through Amazon Smile. Sad to see it go because every little bit helps.

 

[JoeWras]

A snippet from the email I received -

Uh huh. Nothing to do with Amazon's job cuts, or it's fallen share price.

They're a for profit company so they can do whatever they choose to. But, it annoys the hell out of me when I get the corporate tap dancing show and the "ignore the man behind the curtain". Just be honest about it that it was a cost savings decision.

Yeah. Reminds me why I ER'd, no more monthly BS bulletins from management. What they say is BS. The spreading thin is actually good for a lot of organizations that AMZN would never support, like some of the animal shelters and such.

 

[Sojourner]

Uh huh. Nothing to do with Amazon's job cuts, or it's fallen share price.

They're a for profit company so they can do whatever they choose to. But, it annoys the hell out of me when I get the corporate tap dancing show and the "ignore the man behind the curtain". Just be honest about it that it was a cost savings decision.

I couldn't agree more. This is 100% about profits and cost savings and 0% about "Smile has not grown to create the impact that we had originally hoped." What a load of corporate doublespeak.

 

[audreyh1]

I just figured they had already laid off the Amazon Smile team.

 

[athena53]

I couldn't agree more. This is 100% about profits and cost savings and 0% about "Smile has not grown to create the impact that we had originally hoped." What a load of corporate doublespeak.

If they really cared they'd have increased the % of their sales that they donated.

 

[MandM]

Well to me it actually does prove there point. Nobody on here said they spend more on Amazon just to help their charity. In other words, instead of going to Home Depot or Walmart I am going to buy on Amazon just to get the benefit for the charity. That is partially why they created the program, to get incremental sales and I think from data collected in various sources they didn't see enough benefit.

So therefore when there is cost cutting to be done at a big company, this benefit wasn't worth the costs and was at risk for being cut. As a budget planning coordinator for part of my career for a big company, that is done every year. You look at return on every project and some make the cut and some don't. When times are good and your budgeted funds may be higher, more projects might make the cut and when times are tight then tough decisions have to be made.

 

[MarieIG]

No, I didn't spend more through Smile to contribute to charity but, sometimes I will spend less to make a non-pre-planned charitable contribution, i.e. - I really don't need that outfit - how about I sail a few bucks off to charity instead.

Oh, I will add that I will use Paypal if I remember because I can add on a little bit to my purchases for one of my favorite charities.