Current:Home > InvestAmazon ends its charity donation program AmazonSmile after other cost-cutting efforts-LoTradeCoin
Amazon ends its charity donation program AmazonSmile after other cost-cutting efforts
View Date:2024-12-24 07:17:41
Amazon is ending its charity donation program by Feb. 20, the company announced Wednesday. The move to shutter AmazonSmile comes after a series of other cost-cutting measures.
Through the program, which has been in operation since 2013, Amazon donates 0.5% of eligible purchases to a charity of the shopper's choice. The program has donated over $400 million to U.S. charities and more than $449 million globally, according to Amazon.
"With so many eligible organizations — more than one million globally — our ability to have an impact was often spread too thin," Amazon said in a letter to customers.
In 2022, AmazonSmile's average donation per charity was $230 in the U.S., an Amazon spokesperson told NPR in an email.
However, some organizations — especially small ones — say the donations were incredibly helpful to them. And many shoppers who use AmazonSmile have expressed their dismay on social media and shared the impact the program has had on the charities they support.
The Squirrelwood Equine Sanctuary, an animal sanctuary in New York's Hudson Valley that is home to more than 40 horses and other farm animals, tweeted that the nearly $9,400 it has received from Amazon Smile "made a huge difference to us."
Beth Hyman, executive director of the sanctuary, says the organization reliably received a couple thousand dollars per quarter. While that's a relatively small amount of the overall budget, "that can feed an animal for a year," Hyman says. "That's a life that hangs in the balance," she adds, that the sanctuary may not be able to support going forward.
Hyman says Amazon gave virtually no notice that AmazonSmile was going to end and that Amazon made it difficult for the program to succeed because they "hid it behind another URL, and they never integrated it into their mobile apps."
Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Central Texas, an organization that trains volunteers to advocate for children in the child welfare system in four counties between Austin and San Antonio, was another nonprofit that shoppers on AmazonSmile could support.
Eloise Hudson, the group's communications manager, says that while CASA is a national organization, it's broken down into individual, local nonprofits that work and seek funding at the grassroots level. AmazonSmile empowered people in supporting a small charity, she says, and "that's not going to be there anymore."
Amazon said it will help charities transition by "providing them with a one-time donation equivalent to three months of what they earned in 2022 through the program" and allowing them to continue receiving donations until the program's official end in February.
After that, shoppers can still support charities by buying items off their wish lists, the company said, adding that it will continue to support other programs such as affordable housing programs, food banks and disaster relief.
Amazon had previously announced its Housing Equity Fund to invest in affordable housing, which is focused on areas where its headquarters have disrupted housing markets. Some of the programs listed in the announcement are internal to Amazon.
At the beginning of January, Amazon's CEO Andy Jassy announced 18,000 layoffs, the largest in the company's history and the single largest number of jobs cut at a technology company since the industry downturn that began last year.
veryGood! (545)
Related
- QTM Community Introduce
- Megan Thee Stallion hosts, Taylor Swift dominates: Here’s what to know about the 2024 MTV VMAs
- Kamala Harris’ election would defy history. Just 1 sitting VP has been elected president since 1836
- San Diego police identify the officer killed in a collision with a speeding vehicle
- Drone footage captures scope of damage, destruction from deadly Louisville explosion
- Why this is the best version of Naomi Osaka we've ever seen – regardless of the results
- Want Thicker, Fuller Hair? These Are the Top Hair Growth Treatments, According to an Expert
- Armie Hammer Reveals He’s Selling His Truck Since He “Can’t Afford the Gas Anymore”
- What to know about Mississippi Valley State football player Ryan Quinney, who died Friday
- 2 Indiana men charged in heat deaths of 9 dogs in an uncooled truck
Ranking
- Ex-Marine misused a combat technique in fatal chokehold of NYC subway rider, trainer testifies
- Hard Knocks recap: Velus Jones Jr., Ian Wheeler, Austin Reed get one last chance to impress Bears
- Man wins $439,000 lottery prize just after buying North Carolina home
- Where is College GameDay this week? Location, what to know for ESPN show on Week 1
- Dozens indicted over NYC gang warfare that led to the deaths of four bystanders
- Ludacris’ gulp of untreated Alaska glacier melt was totally fine, scientist says
- Court revives Sarah Palin’s libel lawsuit against The New York Times
- Jeremy Allen White models Calvin Klein underwear in new campaign: See the photos
Recommendation
-
When is 'The Golden Bachelorette' finale? Date, time, where to watch Joan Vassos' big decision
-
Channing Tatum Accuses Ex Jenna Dewan of Delay Tactic in Divorce Proceedings
-
2 Indiana men charged in heat deaths of 9 dogs in an uncooled truck
-
Slow down! Michigan mom's texts to son may come back to haunt her
-
Why have wildfires been erupting across the East Coast this fall?
-
Michigan mayor dismissed from lawsuit over city’s handling of lead in water
-
Having a family is expensive. Here’s what Harris and Trump have said about easing costs
-
'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' Season 2: Release date, how to watch, stream