Amazon Closes Its AmazonSmile Charity Program
The e-commerce giant Amazon announced its decision to close down its AmazonSmile charity program. In a recent press release, Amazon has said that it wants to re-focus its charitable efforts and that its ‘ability to have an impact was often spread too thin.’
What is AmazonSmile?
AmazonSmile was a charitable initiative, launched in 2013, where the e-commerce giant would donate 0.5% of the sale of certain products to charitable organizations of the customers’ choice. This was a way for customers to give back to causes they cared about and to support organizations working for good.
End of AmazonSmile
Amazon has now announced that it will be closing down the AmazonSmile program by August 1, 2021. The company claims that this decision has been taken to refocus its philanthropic efforts and to ensure that ‘more meaningful impact can be made’.
Amazon’s New Charitable Focus
With the closure of AmazonSmile, Amazon’s philanthropy program ‘Amazon Future Engineer’ will take its place. This program is focused on providing opportunities in computer science education and career training to underserved and underrepresented communities.
Conclusion
Although the AmazonSmile program enabled customers to donate to charities of their choice, it is clear that the e-commerce giant wants to center its charitable efforts on its Amazon Future Engineer Program. The company believes that this way, it can have a more meaningful impact on those in need.
What do you think about Amazon’s decision to replace AmazonSmile with Amazon Future Engineer? Let us know in the comments section.