AmazonSmile is an automatic way for you as a customer to support your favorite charity every time you shop through Amazon. By choosing from over 1 million charities, Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of your eligible purchases. It costs you nothing extra!
Keep reading and I‘ll explain everything you need to know about how AmazonSmile works, the huge selection of charities, how much Amazon donates, and tips for using the program.
How Does AmazonSmile Work?
AmazonSmile makes donating simple by turning your everyday Amazon purchases into steady contributions for an organization of your choice.
Here is an overview of how you can get started with AmazonSmile:
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Sign Up: Go to smile.amazon.com and login with your Amazon credentials. Search for and select the charity you wish to support.
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Shop Online: Browse and shop on smile.amazon.com just like regular Amazon. All your account settings, wish lists, and preferences are the same.
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Donations Add Up: Every eligible purchase you make will result in a 0.5% donation to your charity. You don‘t have to do anything extra.
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Track Impact: Your AmazonSmile dashboard shows how much you‘ve helped donate over time. Amazon also reports total donations for all users.
The key steps are to register at smile.amazon.com, choose your charity, and then always start your shopping at the "smile" URL.
As long as you sign up and use the right web address, Amazon takes care of automatically donating 0.5% of the purchase price for millions of eligible products.
Huge Selection of Charities (Over 1 Million!)
One of the best parts of AmazonSmile is the enormous selection of charities you can choose to support.
Major national charities like these participate:
- St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
- American Red Cross
- Feeding America
- Wounded Warrior Project
- American Cancer Society
- Wikimedia Foundation
And AmazonSmile has even more small and local charities to pick from.
The categories help you narrow down the list:
- Health & Medical
- Youth & Education
- Environmental Protection
- Homeless & Housing
- Animal Welfare
- Arts & Culture
- Community Development
With over 1 million charities listed on AmazonSmile, you’re sure to find organizations that align with your personal causes and beliefs.
Plus, you can change your charity anytime right from your AmazonSmile account dashboard if you want to switch it up!
How Much Does Amazon Donate Through Smile?
The standard donation rate from AmazonSmile is 0.5% of the purchase price for eligible products. Here are the key details:
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Eligible purchase price is the amount paid for the item itself.
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It does not include any rebates, shipping fees, gift wrap fees, or taxes on your order.
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Prime members still get free shipping and other benefits without impacting donations.
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Outside of special promotions, the rate is reliably 0.5% across all qualifying purchases.
To visualize the amounts, here are some examples of typical AmazonSmile donations:
| Purchase Price | Donation Amount |
|---|---|
| $10 | $0.05 |
| $25 | $0.13 |
| $50 | $0.25 |
| $100 | $0.50 |
Table 1: Breakdown of sample AmazonSmile donation amounts on purchases
Although each purchase yields a relatively small donation, these pennies add up with Amazon‘s high volume of sales.
In total since 2013:
- Over $306 million has been donated globally
- U.S. charities have received over $215 million
- More than 1 million organizations have received funding
For an individual, amounts will vary based on your shopping frequency and spend. But every bit contributed makes an impact.
You can check your personal AmazonSmile donations anytime within your account. Amazon provides quarterly reporting on their website for total worldwide contribution figures too.
How AmazonSmile Stacks Up Against Other Donation Programs
AmazonSmile makes it incredibly easy to give back passively without additional effort or costs. But how does it compare to other donation programs?
AmazonSmile
- Donates 0.5% of eligible purchases
- No fees or extra costs to participate
- Supports over 1 million charities
- Easy automatic donations when shopping
Round Up Donation Apps
- Rounds purchase amounts up to donate difference
- Limited to enrolled credit cards or bank accounts
- Generally supports select charities
- Requires app download and setup
Traditional Checkout Donations
- Asks for 1-time donations during purchase
- Contributes larger amounts like $1 or $5
- Fewer charity options (usually 1 per store)
- Requires actively opting in per transaction
The automated nature of AmazonSmile makes it convenient for passive, regular donations even on small purchase amounts. With such little effort required by customers, the dollars contributed really add up!
AmazonSmile on iPhone and Android Apps
Amazon offers free apps for iPhone and Android to easily use AmazonSmile on the go.
Here are the steps to get it set up:
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Download the Amazon app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
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Open the app and find “Settings” in the menu.
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Tap on “AmazonSmile” and turn it ON.
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Follow the instructions to choose your charity.
Once activated, AmazonSmile will be enabled for future purchases through the app. Just shop as normal and 0.5% of proceeds will go to your selected organization.
The app will periodically remind you to renew your participation. But you can reactivate AmazonSmile anytime in the app settings.
AmazonSmile on Alexa and Echo Devices
While the AmazonSmile program is not currently available for Alexa purchases, you CAN still use it on any Echo device or Alexa assistant by simply shopping through smile.amazon.com on the device‘s web browser.
Unfortunately voice purchasing via Alexa does not support AmazonSmile donations at this time.
But you can still:
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Browse smile.amazon.com on Echo Show or the web browsers of other Alexa devices
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Use Alexa voice commands to help add items to your cart
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Check out via the AmazonSmile website to trigger donations
This allows Echo and Alexa owners to continue generating contributions to their chosen charity. Alexa shopping integration is hopefully coming soon!
Does AmazonSmile Work With Prime Membership?
Absolutely! Your Amazon Prime benefits apply on AmazonSmile too.
Shopping on smile.amazon.com gives you:
- Free 1-day or 2-day shipping on Prime eligible items
- Access to Prime Video and other Prime perks
- Ability to use Prime Pantry for discounted household items
The key thing to know is you still need to checkout specifically on “smile” in order to generate donations, even as a Prime member.
Don’t worry, you can use the same login. Just shop from the smile.amazon.com website or activate it in the app.
So no need to choose between fast shipping and giving back! Take advantage of Prime while also supporting your favorite cause.
AmazonSmile Savings on Black Friday and Prime Day
The major sales holidays of Black Friday and Prime Day offer great opportunities to save while giving back.
But to earn donations on your Black Friday and Prime Day purchases, please remember to checkout on smile.amazon.com instead of just amazon.com.
The deals and discounts are the same either way. But only “smile” triggers contributions to your charity!
Be sure to double check you’re on the right webpage before purchasing anything during the big sales. This guarantees 0.5% of your total goes toward making a difference!
Conclusion
With minimal effort, AmazonSmile allows you to passively give back while shopping online as usual.
Just remember these key points:
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Choose from over 1 million charities when first signing up
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Always start shopping at smile.amazon.com
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0.5% of eligible purchases are donated at no cost to you
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See donation amounts in your AmazonSmile account
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Use the mobile app and activate AmazonSmile
So if you’re already shopping Amazon for yourself, why not put a smile on someone else’s face too? Turn your everyday purchases into steady donations by supporting your favorite cause through AmazonSmile!
