Amazon Smile Going Away Soon

[Provincial]

I got an email from Amazon telling me that they were closing down the Smile program in February. I will now have to donate directly to SAF, and Amazon will be directing the part I was steering to SAF to more "woke" organizations of their liking.

They said that they were going to focus on making direct donations instead of letting customers choose the recipients. I can imagine where their donations will be going on 2A issues.

While I was surprised that they offered a system that did not allow them to control where donations were going, and expected it to eventually be closed, I am heartened that the customer base must not be choosing to donate where they would like. Perhaps the public is waking up to "woke."

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[JohnnyMac]

Hmmm, I haven't got that email yet. Maybe it's just for folks that donate to places they don't agree with?

 

[Nosferatu]

Guess it became not worth paying the accountants to do the paperwork for all the individual charitable donation tax write-offs for each organization.

 

[Nosferatu]

Hmmm, I haven't got that email yet. Maybe it's just for folks that donate to places they don't agree with?

No, I got an email as did my wife. Her donations went to some Doberman organization, mine went to GOA.

 

[nammac]

Go woke…

Go broke…

 

[Alexx1401]

Hmmm, I haven't got that email yet. Maybe it's just for folks that donate to places they don't agree with?

Mine was St Jude Hospital and I got the same e-mail so my guess is its gone. Amazon has just stared a massive lay off. During the great lock down hoax they had a license to print money. Now that is going away they took a hit.

 

[3MTA3]

I got the email as well. The gist is that instead of me deciding what causes I want to donate to they want to decide the cause that will get their philanthropy.

I've included the content of the letter below so you can read and decide for yourself. As you would expect the word "equity" pops up and where it does not the equity concept is in play, The one possible exception outside of disaster relief is funding for Computer Science education, but I bet the selection criteria is swimming in "equity" as well.

AmazonSmile
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Dear customer,

In 2013, we launched AmazonSmile to make it easier for customers to support their favorite charities. 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.

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—from building affordable housing to providing access to computer science education for students in underserved communities to using our logistics infrastructure and technology to assist broad communities impacted by natural disasters.

To help charities that have been a part of the AmazonSmile program with this transition, we will be providing them with a one-time donation equivalent to three months of what they earned in 2022 through the program, 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 other programs that help thousands of charities and communities across the U.S. For instance:

Housing Equity Fund: We're investing $2 billion to build and preserve affordable housing in our hometown communities. In just two years, we've provided funding to create more than 14,000 affordable homes—and we expect to build at least 6,000 more in the coming months. These units will host more than 18,000 moderate- to low-income families, many of them with children. In one year alone, our investments have been able to increase the affordable housing stock in communities like Bellevue, Washington and Arlington, Virginia by at least 20%.

Amazon Future Engineer: We've funded computer science curriculum for more than 600,000 students across over 5,000 schools—all in underserved communities. We have plans to reach an additional 1 million students this year. We've also provided immediate assistance to 55,000 students in our hometown communities by giving them warm clothes for the winter, food, and school supplies.

Community Delivery Program: We've partnered with food banks in 35 U.S. cities to deliver more than 23 million meals, using our logistics infrastructure to help families in need access healthy food – and we plan to deliver 12 million more meals this year alone. In addition to our delivery services, we've also donated 30 million meals in communities across the country.

Amazon Disaster Relief: We're using our logistics capabilities, inventory, and cloud technology to provide fast aid to communities affected by natural disasters. For example, we've created a Disaster Relief Hub in Atlanta with more than 1 million relief items ready for deployment, our Disaster Relief team has responded to more than 95 natural disasters, and we've donated more than 20 million relief products to nonprofits assisting communities on the ground.

Community Giving: We support hundreds of local nonprofits doing meaningful work in cities where our employees and their families live. For example, each year we donate hundreds of millions of dollars to organizations working to build stronger communities, from youth sport leagues, to local community colleges, to shelters for families experiencing homelessness.

We'll continue working to make a difference in many ways, and our long-term commitment to our communities remains the same—we're determined to do every day better for our customers, our employees, and the world at large.

Thank you for being an Amazon customer.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
smile.amazon.com

 

[Koda]

I got the same letter and also used their smile service to donate to SAF.
When I read the letter I couldn't help but think that they didn't like organizations they 'probably' don't support raising several thousands of dollars from their system.
SAF raised over $27K last quarter from Amazon Smile.


I don't know yet if I disagree with any of their now chosen charities so I will probably continue with the smile program but I do know I will be buying direct any chance I get from now on.

 

[monkeybutler]

They are cost cutting.

The 'woke' presentation is just brand impression management.

 

[bradsteen]

Every time I go to safeway or petco or any other place I'm asked "do you want to round up for charity"... makes me wonder why gun shops don't do the same thing? Seems like that would be a good way to get recurring donations to 2A nonprofits.

 

[DirectDrive]

I thought this was going to be about their "male anatomy" symbol on all of their trucks.
How do they get away with that ?

"Honey, look what the p***s truck brought today !"

 

[solv3nt]

I've cut back on spending at Amazon, at I try to support the little guy even if it costs more.

 

[RobMa]

Amazon Disaster Relief: We're using our logistics capabilities, inventory, and cloud technology to provide fast aid to communities affected by natural disasters. For example, we've created a Disaster Relief Hub in Atlanta with more than 1 million relief items ready for deployment, our Disaster Relief team has responded to more than 95 natural disasters, and we've donated more than 20 million relief products to nonprofits assisting communities on the ground.

The only part that does not come across as blatantly "woke"

Housing Equity Fund: We're investing $2 billion to build and preserve affordable housing in our hometown communities. In just two years, we've provided funding to create more than 14,000 affordable homes—and we expect to build at least 6,000 more in the coming months. These units will host more than 18,000 moderate- to low-income families, many of them with children. In one year alone, our investments have been able to increase the affordable housing stock in communities like Bellevue, Washington and Arlington, Virginia by at least 20%.

Nice sentiment, sadly it has the opposite effect on communities. Programs like this generally see a significate rise in crime in these new areas. This also includes massive migration of medium/high income people that leave the area, which in turn eventually creates yet another ghetto.

Makes me wonder sometimes if it is done on purpose... create fear and havoc so "big brother" can swoop in and save everyone.
We just have to be willing to give up our rights for it to work... right?

 

[titsonritz]

I've cut back on spending at Amazon, at I try to support the little guy even if it costs more.

Same here, I ditched my Prime membership about six months ago. They kept sending a the option to sign back up for a free month so I did it for my Christmas shopping then canceled it again. Was buying dog food and treats from them but switched to Chewy. F' Amazon.

 

[solv3nt]

Same here, I ditched my Prime membership about six months ago. They kept sending a the option to sign back up for a free month so I did it for my Christmas shopping then canceled it again. Was buying dog food and treats from them but switched to Chewy. F' Amazon.

Amazon is often more expensive then other places, even with the free shipping. One thing that's nice is being able to get it all done with one online shop.

 

[deadeye]

I didnt get an email but I dont buy from amazon, so maybe that's why......... Amazon is the walmart of online, sell cheap and drive the little guy out of business then raise prices and have no competition, same goes for home depot.

 

[Longwalkhome]

Last time I bought from Amazon was three years ago on a black Friday, they lost my Christmas gifts. Everything showed up the next year in February.

 

[GrayGoose]

Amazon can just...

 

[Alexx1401]

Amazon is often more expensive then other places, even with the free shipping. One thing that's nice is being able to get it all done with one online shop.

That sadly is why Jeff gets so much of my money. I hate what he does with his money but I just love the ease. I have all my life HATED running to store's to find what I need. So Often either I can't find what I want, or find it and then no one seems to want to let my pay for it and get on my way.
So now for almost everything I need I just look at amazon first. Other day headlight went out on one of my cars. So had to stop at store anyway so went to Wally. Of course the damn things are locked up.
Was going to walk away but some guy happened to be in the dept. So he gets key and they had one of the bulb I needed. Wanted to replace both of them so I took the one he had. While grabbing the food stuff I came for I ordered a set of the bulbs off amazon which came the next day.

 

[Koda]

The local stores almost never have what I want in stock...

But i always try to order direct online than Amazon. Amazon is the last resort.