Update on Amazon Smile
Posted on: January 20, 2023
Ten years ago, we launched AmazonSmile to make it easier for customers to support their favourite charities. However, since launch, the programme has not grown to create the impact that we had originally hoped.
AmazonSmile represents a very small portion of the total charitable contributions made through our other programmes, which we estimate at more than £100 million in 2021.
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 programmes that we know will have more impact—from providing support to families in need, to using our logistics infrastructure and technology to assist communities impacted by natural disasters.
We recognise that these are difficult times for everyone, including charities, so we are providing an additional one-time donation to participating charities equivalent to six months of what they earned through the programme in 2022, 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 partnerships that help thousands of charities and communities across the UK. For example:
- We are increasing our support for a charity coalition led by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown that has donated essential products to more than 50,000 families in need.
- We recently announced a new partnership with Comic Relief that began with our support for the Comic Relief Cost of Living Appeal, which supports families across the UK and alleviates pressures caused by rising costs.
- Our product donation programmes continue to help people and families in need, providing more than 15 million essential goods in the last year alone. These include In Kind Direct, a partnership that supports more than 2,000 charities with donations that help more than 250,000 people every single week.
- We have also launched a new Amazon for Charities store which allows charities to raise money by selling products on Amazon and collecting 100% of profits. Today the store features Macmillan Cancer Support, Royal British Legion, the Natural History Museum, Marie Curie and we are adding more charities all of the time.
On top of this work, we will continue to invest in our capabilities to support communities in the UK and abroad every day and in times of crisis. So far, for example, we’ve partnered with Magic Breakfast to deliver more than 6.6 million free breakfasts to thousands of children across the country, and we delivered more than 7 million COVID-19 test kits across the UK during the pandemic. We have also been using our logistics capabilities to help people affected by the war in Ukraine. Globally, we’ve provided more than $75 million in support including millions of critical relief items – from medical supplies to blankets, food, books and devices for refugees, working closely with charities such as Save The Children.
We’ll continue working to making a difference in many ways, but our long-term commitment to our communities remains the same: we are determined to help create a better world for our customers, our employees, and the communities we serve across the country.
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