You might not be aware of a program that Amazon had run for the last few years. The program itself was called Smile. What it did was (depending on how you used it) you would shop for items and then a charity would get a donation, based on how much or what you purchased over a certain period of time.

There was a lengthy list of charities that could benefit from your purchases, mine was the USO of New York. Maybe you did this too, it was a simple way to give your favorite place a little bit of financial support.

Why did Amazon discontinue its Smile charity program?

Kit L.
Kit L.
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According to a press release from Amazon, they started the Smile Charity program in 2103, as a way to help customers give back to their favorite charities and to communities. Were they successful? That same press release says that Amazon was not as successful as they had hoped and actually found themselves (and the program) being spread too thin.

Is this the end of Amazon and a charity or any sort of 'giving' program?

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Amazon is going to focus its efforts on funding in more specific areas, like a Housing Equity Fund, Amazon Future Engineer (to get money into schools to help with computer science programs), Community Delivery Program (which will help get food from food banks to persons who need it and cannot afford to get there themselves). These are just a few of the programs that Amazon will be creating and supporting.

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But what about your favorite charity? How can you still support them?

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The Smile program will officially wind down with Amazon on February 20, 2023. Until then you can still have a portion of your Amazon purchases donated to your selected charity. Amazon also states that they are going to make a donation to each one of the organizations, in the amount of what they would typically get during the previous three-month period.

Is there another way to help out your favorite charity or organization via Amazon?

Ask your charity to create an Amazon Wish List. Then you will be able to make a donation through Amazon directly to your charity, and also make purchases of items that the charity really needs.

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