The Rundown - Amazon Makes Us Frown - January 20, 2023
The e-commerce site drops their AmazonSmile program. Will nonprofits feel the pain?
I have a friend who used to work in state government. When it came to doling out public dollars, he’d often say there were two basic approaches. The first, was putting cold butter on bread — it would turn out lumpy with not a lot of coverage. The other was spreading creamy peanut butter, everyone would get a bit, but the impact would be watered down.
It was that illustration that came to mind when I read this press release from Amazon from their website:
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.
Amazon is clearly thinking that cold, lumpy butter is better than smooth peanut butter. And who can blame them? That peanut butter approach ended up being an average donation to a nonprofit of $230 per year. The lumpy butter approach will at least give Amazon a chance to break out the big novelty checks to underwrite bigger projects in select areas where Amazon either has a physical presence or they have an ability to influence changes where they want. One of the dirty little secrets about programs that allow anyone with an IRS determination letter and a tax-id number is that Amazon could end up supporting organizations that may not align with their corporate citizenship goals. Better to really know those shops you are supporting than leaving it up to a self-selected chance.
This news probably comes as a bit of a shock to those in the nonprofit and philanthropic circles. While there may have been a good number of shops that received nice donations from Amazon, with an average give of $230, I am thinking there weren’t many that really relied on this source of funding. So, what are the lessons?
First, nonprofit and philanthropic professionals need to fundamentally understand that the focus and priorities of donors change over time. Not only is Amazon going to a more cold butter approach, most donors do the same thing as well. The average American who makes charitable donations, support four to five different organizations per year. I am also sure that the four or five donations you gave to are different today than it was ten or twenty years ago.
Second, nonprofit and philanthropic professionals would be better served by employing different sources of revenue. If the average AmazonSmile donation was $230, I am going to assume that most of these nonprofits already have other sources of funding coming in. Annual campaigns, large donor planning, grant writing, corporate solicitations and events can all play a pivotal role in crafting a successful fundraising strategy that will help the organization thrive and succeed. As AmazonSmile goes away, hopefully it’s just a small blip on the screen and other sources of income can make up for the lost revenue.
Finally, remember it wasn’t Amazon who donated, it was Customers! The AmazonSmile program was predicated on the actions of customers making decisions, not Amazon. If you know people who used this program and they still understand and appreciate the work your shop is doing, don’t be afraid to ask for a donation! Stewardship of our donors is a huge part of our work in these circles. The dollars may have left through AmazonSmile, but your supporters have not given up on you!
The Weekly Notebook
A quick rundown of what I am seeing and hearing in the nonprofit world….
Now Hiring!
I have a nonprofit in Sidney, Ohio that has reached out to me looking for a new Executive Director. I can tell you that this a very strong organization that needs leadership that has strong entrepreneurial and staff management skills. If you have any interest, please drop me a line at pinnaclestrategiesltd@gmail.com and let’s talk!
Also, the local CASA/GAL agency in Troy, Ohio is looking for a new staff member as well. It’s a great agency with solid leadership. If you have interest, please let me know by sending an email to pinnaclestrategiesltd@gmail.com and I will share what I know.
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Ready to Learn Something New?
One of the prettiest cities in the Midwest is Indianapolis and travelling there can open a perfect opportunity to sharpen your skills and meet new professionals in the field. I would encourage you to look at some of the offerings of The Fund Raising School at the Lilly School of Philanthropy at Indiana University’s campus in Indianapolis. The professional development school has great programming both on-line and in-person both in Indianapolis and at other sites across the country. Take a look at their course offerings here!
Online Learning Options from Texas A&M Announced
If travelling for professional development isn’t in the cards (or the budget), the Center for Nonprofits at Texas A&M University has some great offerings! I recently enrolled in one of their certificate programs and really enjoyed the online format and the online discussions that were developed. It was time and money well spent and I would highly recommend this program, especially for early or mid-career professionals. The next session begins in early February and you can learn more here!
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