Charities, open a new fundraising stream with minimum effort and no fees.
Are you a registered charity in the UK? If the answer is yes, you should be signed up to and making the most of the amazing Amazon Smile programme.
The Amazon Smile programme is open to charities of all sizes and was introduced to the UK market in November 2017, initially with 11 major charities. It soon expanded to allow all registered charities the ability to benefit from the service.
If you are a hospice or localised charity, this is something you should be taking advantage of…
What is it and how does it work?
AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for people to support a charity of their choice every time they shop, at no cost to them. Amazon donates 0.5% of net purchase prices to a charity of the consumer’s choice. The consumer doesn’t have to pay a thing – this is donated from the profit margin of Amazon.
As of September 2020, Amazon had donated over $215 million to charities through the programme.
It’s a free, additional channel to fundraise for your charity. In 2018 it was revealed that Amazon accounts for £4 in every £100 spent in the UK, so this little initiative could prove extremely beneficial for your charity or hospice.
Customers are encouraged to purchase goods through the smile.amazon.co.uk subdomain instead of the usual amazon.co.uk route. It can also be activated and used on the iOS & Android apps. It’s worth bearing in mind that orders placed on the standard domain means donations will not be tracked or made. Ensure your fundraisers know this!
What do I need to do?
If you are an official representative of a charity, you can enrol into the programme now by visiting org.amazon.co.uk. By doing this, a marketing campaign would be the best way to raise awareness of your charity being part of this simple and effective fundraising initiative.
Fundraising.co.uk have the following step-by-step advice for charities:
Search for the charitable organisation by name or registered charity number and then select the organisation.
- Create an organisation administrator account and accept the AmazonSmile Participation Agreement on behalf of the organisation.
- Verify the email address.
- Submit the organisation’s bank account information.
- Upload a copy of a bank statement to verify the organisation’s bank account information.
What next?
Once you’re all set up, it’s the case of making people aware of the new channel and, most importantly, how they can use it. Amazon have stated that they are relying on word-of-mouth recommendations to grow awareness, in order to keep the funds there for donations.
Why not run a two-fold marketing campaign to let people know:
- Your charity is now on Amazon Smile
- Educate people how to select your charity and how to use the service.
For more advice on how your charity can benefit from Amazon Smile, email the Scimitar marketing team by clicking here to receive a step-by-step guide.
