How much less? In 2015, Amazon generated about $99.1 billion in U.S. That’s less than 0.5 percent of ’s retail sales. The results reflect that friction: In 2015, the AmazonSmile Foundation, which administers the program, donated $12,867,013 to charity, according to the foundation’s latest Form 990-PF filed with the IRS. It’s hardly worth the bother to surf over to a new URL to give away a dime. Spend $2,000 and $10 goes to charity–provided, that is, that you remember to bookmark or navigate over to before making a purchase. Let’s begin with the numbers, starting with that 0.5 percent figure. Second, what has it done to increase the quality of charitable giving? Two questions need to be asked about AmazonSmile.įirst, what has it done to increase the quantity of charitable giving? Nice, right? Well, yes, but not nearly as a nice as it could be. The difference is that when you shop on AmazonSmile, the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible products to the charitable organization of your choice. The same products, prices, and shopping features as. “Readers are invited to send in money,” Liebling wrote, “while the newspaper generously agrees to accept the thanks of the beneficiaries.”ĪmazonSmile is bit like that. Liebling about The New York Times’ fundraising campaigns on behalf of its Neediest Cases. AmazonSmile brings to mind the observation of late great media critic A.J.

Amazon smile shopping