I learned something new about Amazon today from my friend Bill in Dickinson.  Apparently, Amazon allows you to shop and give to charity at the same time.  Who knew?

The program is called AmazonSmile and it allows you to   donate a portion ( 0.5% ) of certain purchases to one of a collection of charities. You can sign up at smile.amazon.com and once you sign up you never have to give it another thought.  You can change your charity at any time.  Charities not represented on AmazonSmile can go to org.amazon.com to register.  I did not see a number of my favorite local organizations listed, so I hope that the word will get out locally and more organizations will register (must be a 501(c)(3) charitable organization).

From the website:

“AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support your favorite charitable organization every time you shop, at no cost to you. When you shop at smile.amazon.com, you’ll find the exact same low prices, vast selection and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price to your favorite charitable organization. You can choose from nearly one million organizations to support.”

Once you have signed up you just shop at AmazonSmile. Not all products are eligible for charitable donations.  Eligible products are marked with  “Eligible for AmazonSmile donation” on their product detail pages.

This is feel good shopping and a way to stretch your charitable contributions.  Given the tremendous volume of sales Amazon boasts, participating in AmazonSmile could really line the coffers of many a charitable organization.  That is a good thing.

Target has had a similar program for years that contributes to school districts. There are also many companies that kickback a percentage of sales to charity.  I do not know if there are other companies like Amazon that allow shoppers to select from a wide range of charities.  The bottom line is this – if you are going to shop at Amazon, then why not give back at the same time?  If there one thing smart shoppers know, its a good deal when they see it.  I suspect this will catch on like wildfire. 😉