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Amazon is shutting down its “Smile” charity donation program as the company cuts costs and rethinks its strategy.
The Smile initiative will shut down by February 20, Amazon said in a statement Wednesday, explaining the “program has not grown to create the impact that we had originally hoped.”
Amazon Smile donated a small percentage of sales made on eligible purchases to a charity that shoppers chose. In total, $500 million has been donated since its 2013 launch, with an average donation of less than $230 per charity, the company said.
“With so many eligible organizations — more than 1 million globally — our ability to have an impact was often spread too thin,” Amazon (AMZN) added. Charities enrolled in the program will get a one-time donation “equivalent to three months of what they earned in 2022,” Amazon (AMZN) said, noting that charities will still be able to accrue donations until the program closes.
