Amazon Axes AmazonSmile
Is your charity signed up to AmazonSmile? If so, and you didn’t get the memo, we hate to be the bearers of bad news, but the online shopping giant has announced it’s scrapping the scheme, as of February 20.
In an email to customers, the retailer said AmazonSmile, (an online donation service which enables shoppers to donate to a charity of their choice when making purchases), “had not grown to create the impact that we had originally hoped,” adding “with so many eligible organisations — more than 1 million globally — our ability to have an impact was often spread too thin.”
A financial blow
Amazon’s announcement has left thousands of local and national UK charities wondering how they are going to replace the funding which has been a lifeline, particularly amid the backdrop of the cost-of-living crisis.
Two charities that have relied on the extra income stream are the RSPCA, and the Royal British Legion, who raised £430,000 and £310,000 respectively, through the scheme.
The good news
However, it’s not all doom and gloom. For one thing, Amazon has pledged to provide participating AmazonSmile charities with a one-time donation equivalent to three months of what they earned in 2022 through the programme (to help with the transition).
Secondly, there’s a plethora of other brands that provide a similar service.
Here’s a few for starters:
easyfundraising has raised over £43 million for thousands of causes across the U.K since launching in 2005.
The brand makes money through affiliate marketing. The brand has over 7,000 retail partners, including John Lewis, M&S, Expedia, Amazon, eBay, and all the major supermarkets. Each time a sale is made through the easyfundraising website, the retail partner pays them a commission, at least 50% of which is passed on to a charity of the shopper’s choice.
Charities can register on the site, and it’s free to use. Providing they have raised over £15, easyfundraising totals up all the donations raised by those supporting every three months and sends them by bank transfer or cheque. There’s no charge for this. If £15 hasn’t been raised in the previous three months, the amount rolls into the next payment.
FundUgive2
This unique company is putting a charitable spin on the mortgage market.
FundUgive2 offers free advice to help clients re-mortgage and save money.
The best part? When customers re-mortgage through them, the organisation donates 25% of the fees they receive from lenders to a charity of the customer’s choice.
They make the donations through Work for Good, which is free for charities to sign up to.
Charitable Travel
Charitable Travel is a social enterprise travel agency. They donate around half of the commission they make on each holiday to charity. Customers can also choose to donate 5% of their holiday price to a charity of their choice, providing it is registered on JustGiving. Once the donation has been paid, the organisation discounts the cost of their holiday by 5%, effectively making the customer’s donation free.
The organisation also offers a range of marketing and promotional opportunities for its charity partners (including free promotion in its magazine).
Looking for a talented fundraiser to help you identify alternative income streams? We can help. Give us a call on 020 3750 3111 to get the process started!