I just sent an FU to AmazonSmile regarding their decision

[mnhtnbb]

Here's the content of the e-mail I sent to them in response to the e-mail announcing their decision to "wind down" AmazonSmile. The charity I had been supporting was Hope for Paws in Los Angeles. Maybe if they get enough responses criticizing them and threatening to reduce or give up purchasing from Amazon, they'll rethink the decision.

Well, I don't care that people haven't chosen the charities that Amazon wants them to. When I go to the grocery store, I do not agree to "round up" my bill so that my money can be donated to the charity of the grocery store owner's choice and tax deduction for that contribution accrue to the grocery store, even though it would be money from me that would make it possible.

So if you are going to refuse to let me choose the charity--Hope for Paws--which I have been supporting with my purchases through AmazonSmile, then I guess I will have to look for other retailers from which to make purchases.

Good luck with your greed and your need to control everything. You can count on me as one customer who will be shopping elsewhere because of this decision to "wind down AmazonSmile".

For those who haven't been using AmazonSmile, this is the content of the e-mail which they sent two days ago:

Dear customer,

In 2013, we launched AmazonSmile to make it easier for customers to support their favorite charities. However, after almost a decade, the program has not grown to create the impact that we had originally hoped. With so many eligible organizations—more than 1 million globally—our ability to have an impact was often spread too thin.

We are writing to let you know that we plan to wind down AmazonSmile by February 20, 2023. We will continue to pursue and invest in other areas where we’ve seen we can make meaningful change—from building affordable housing to providing access to computer science education for students in underserved communities to using our logistics infrastructure and technology to assist broad communities impacted by natural disasters.

To help charities that have been a part of the AmazonSmile program with this transition, we will be providing them with a one-time donation equivalent to three months of what they earned in 2022 through the program, and they will also be able to accrue additional donations until the program officially closes in February. Once AmazonSmile closes, charities will still be able to seek support from Amazon customers by creating their own wish lists.

As a company, we will continue supporting a wide range of other programs that help thousands of charities and communities across the U.S. For instance:

Housing Equity Fund: We’re investing $2 billion to build and preserve affordable housing in our hometown communities. In just two years, we’ve provided funding to create more than 14,000 affordable homes—and we expect to build at least 6,000 more in the coming months. These units will host more than 18,000 moderate- to low-income families, many of them with children. In one year alone, our investments have been able to increase the affordable housing stock in communities like Bellevue, Washington and Arlington, Virginia by at least 20%.
Amazon Future Engineer: We’ve funded computer science curriculum for more than 600,000 students across over 5,000 schools—all in underserved communities. We have plans to reach an additional 1 million students this year. We’ve also provided immediate assistance to 55,000 students in our hometown communities by giving them warm clothes for the winter, food, and school supplies.
Community Delivery Program: We’ve partnered with food banks in 35 U.S. cities to deliver more than 23 million meals, using our logistics infrastructure to help families in need access healthy food – and we plan to deliver 12 million more meals this year alone. In addition to our delivery services, we’ve also donated 30 million meals in communities across the country.
Amazon Disaster Relief: We’re using our logistics capabilities, inventory, and cloud technology to provide fast aid to communities affected by natural disasters. For example, we’ve created a Disaster Relief Hub in Atlanta with more than 1 million relief items ready for deployment, our Disaster Relief team has responded to more than 95 natural disasters, and we’ve donated more than 20 million relief products to nonprofits assisting communities on the ground.
Community Giving: We support hundreds of local nonprofits doing meaningful work in cities where our employees and their families live. For example, each year we donate hundreds of millions of dollars to organizations working to build stronger communities, from youth sport leagues, to local community colleges, to shelters for families experiencing homelessness.

We’ll continue working to make a difference in many ways, and our long-term commitment to our communities remains the same—we’re determined to do every day better for our customers, our employees, and the world at large.

Thank you for being an Amazon customer.

[Srkdqltr]

1. I'm sure they were justly chastised.

[mnhtnbb]

3. There are numerous small, local charities which are going to lose thousands of $$

because of this decision.

I used to get quarterly e-mails from them reporting the amount they'd donated to Hope for Paws and the amount was in the tens of thousands of $$.

Your attitude is why bother? Well, why bother with a Union?

[50 Shades Of Blue]

2. I am pissed as fuck about this too!

[mnhtnbb]

4. Tell them.

It took me awhile to figure out how to send them an e-mail. They sent the announcement from an e-mail address which bounces back.

So I sent my e-mail to their Press Center.

[marybourg]

10. I addressed mine to [e-mail].

That’s where I send copies of Amazon-specific spam and vendor violations.

[FakeNoose]

5. It's just a tiny portion of every sale(order) that goes to the charity of our choice

I'm really peeved that they're cancelling this, and so are a lot of us. I've been a Prime AmazonSmile member for over 10 years, and I think this stinks.

[mnhtnbb]

8. The charity I support, Hope for Paws, has received $392,279.34 as of Nov 2022

because of AmazonSmile customers like myself choosing to have our tiny contributions made to them.

[mcar]

6. My and SOs charity was one of them

I'm very unhappy with this decision. We never made much off Amazon Smile but it was something - and a good marketing tool for fundraising.

[iemanja]

7. Their excuse is pathetic

They claimed the impact was too dispersed. They could have easily solved that by narrowing the charity options. They are doing it to cut expenses and for no other reason.

[marybourg]

9. You inspired me. I just emailed them, too.

[mnhtnbb]

12. Good!

[mnhtnbb]

11. CNBC did a story about this

Here's the link:

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/18/amazon-discontinues-amazonsmile-charity-donation-program-amid-cost-cuts.html?fbclid=IwAR19R_xmQp7zk2LJrxG_eF9n5RA4fXI_F01xOnEodeu6V_lvXXnw6kjVU_0

I e-mailed the reporter to tell her about the feedback I sent to Amazon, the hundreds of thousands of dollars that had been donated to Hope for Paws (my charity choice) and to ask her to continue to follow the story.

You can contact the reporter, Annie Palmer, [e-mail] or [e-mail]

[a kennedy]

13. I hate using Amazon, so I do use Etsy, and most name brand companies instead.

Fawk that smile. 🤬 🤬 🤬

[Tree Lady]

14. I was upset because many like me

were giving to planned parenthood which needs a ton of help with girls
having to travel to get help. I was giving to my local one.