Amazon Smile: You Give, But Do They Receive?

While reading through the Blue Mountain Heritage Society Fall 2017 newsletter, I noticed a request for Amazon.com users to support BMHS, at no cost to themselves, through the Amazon Smile program. While The Times always recommends supporting local businesses first and foremost by shopping locally, we realize there are times when you will need to order online.

If you do, you may as well support a local organization while you're at it. I decided to check out the program and discovered that there are a couple things both consumers and nonprofits need to be aware of.

Rather than logging directly on to Amazon, shoppers go to smile.amazon.com, select a nonprofit or charitable organization and begin shopping. Once the organization is selected, the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of your purchases to the organization.

I was disappointed when I attempted to search by area. I entered Dayton WA and only received one organization, from Clarksville, VA, of all places. I also tried entering Waitsburg, WA and Walla Walla, WA. I got nothing for Waitsburg and four organizations in Walla Walla. When I entered "Blue Mountain Heritage Society" the organization did come up for selection.

My curiosity piqued, I clicked around to see how organizations are registered. It turns out that most nonprofit organizations (those listed in GuideStar) are listed and can be chosen, HOWEVER, that does not mean that a representative has registered that organization and that the organization will actually receive funds.

In order to receive funds an organization administrator must select their organization, create an administrator account, and enter contact and bank information for the organization. After that, collected donations will be transferred via bank transfer, on a quarterly basis, with a minimum $5 transfer. There is no charge to participate, no fees, and 100% of donations are directed to the organizations account, according to Amazon.com.

BMHS President Paula Moisio said the society is still getting word out about the program, but that their last check was for $16 and "every little bit helps."

I was left wondering what happens to donations that are collected for an organization that has not registered for the program. According to Amazon, donations are tracked and stored and will be transferred during the next donation cycle, once an organization registers. With one caveat.

"Please note that donations that have been allocated to an unregistered charitable organization from customers that made their first supporting purchase more than eight full quarters ago and have not been distributed will be reallocated to other registered charitable organizations." There is no explanation of exactly how those funds would be reallocated.

According to a list of FAQs, an organization can contact Amazon and request that their information be removed from the program if they prefer not to be listed.

After a bit of playing around, I determined the secret to searching by location is to enter "Waitsburg" or "Dayton" without the state. Entering the word "Waitsburg" resulted in a long list of organizations including Rural Youth Enrichment Services, local churches, The Cardinal's Nest, Waitsburg Historical Society, Waitsburg Booster Club, Just Another Chance Ranch, and many more.

I checked with Touchet Valley Acoustic Music Program Director Kate Hockersmith who said that, as far as she knows, Rural Youth Enrichment Services (TVAMPs parent organization) is not registered with Amazon Smile. However, she said she would look into it and see about getting signed up.

Dayton is a bit more tricky since it pulls selections from Dayton, Ohio and Dayton, Tex. as well. There is a blue "about" link that can be clicked to see the location of the organization to make sure it is the correct one before you select it. I did see the Dayton Depot Historical Society and the Dayton Development Task Force listed as I scrolled through the first few pages of results.

The Waitsburg Celebration Days Association was listed as was the Waitsburg Town Hall Association. My guess is that those organizations are unaware of the program and have not registered. It does not appear that there is a way for a shopper to know if an organization has registered or not.

It seems that Amazon Smile could be a great way for organizations to receive donations with no added cost to supporters, as long as the organization is registered. I would suggest that users check with their organization of choice before selecting to make sure they are registered. I would also suggest that local nonprofits look into registering with Amazon Smile.