7 Tips For Growing Donations on Amazon Smile
WRITTEN BY COREY BLAKE
Charitable partnerships can be mutually beneficial for both companies and nonprofit organizations. Businesses can gain new customers or deepen loyalty with existing customers by aligning with a charitable cause important to their buyers. Nonprofits can attract new donors who may not have been familiar with their causes by aligning with companies that share similar values.
Launched in 2014, Amazon.com found a way to give back to charitable causes through the convenience of online shopping with Amazon Smile. This grant-giving foundation has donated $198 million dollars to more than 1 million nonprofit organizations since its inception. The AmazonSmile Foundation continues to be committed to helping nonprofits achieve their missions with a donation equaling 0.5 percent of the price of any eligible purchases. But, with so many nonprofits participating in the program today, how can you stand out?
7 TIPS FOR NONPROFITS TO GET THE MOST FROM AMAZON SMILE
Sharing your charity link – provided by Amazon Smile – with supporters through your website, email, mobile channels, and social media is the best way to increase donations. The more you promote your organization’s participation in AmazonSmile, the more likely you are to stand out.
1. Share Your Amazon Smile Link…Everywhere
Encourage donors, volunteers, employees, friends and family to bookmark your dedicated link set up on Amazon Smile, so all their eligible shopping will benefit your organization.
Ex. https://smile.amazon.com/ORGNAME
2. Send An Email Newsletter
In your next email newsletter to supporters, promote your AmazonSmile participation and include your dedicated link, https://smile.amazon.com/ORGNAME. You can also create a campaign around Amazon Prime Days, Black Friday, #GivingTuesday via social media and mobile messaging to get the word out!
3. Post On Social Media
Send regular posts on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. When you #StartWithaSmile, Amazon donates 0.5% of the purchase price to {Org Name} Bookmark the link https://smile.amazon.com/ORGNAME and support us every time you shop.
4. Promote On Your Website
As an administrator of your organization’s Amazon.com account, log into Org Central to download a banner you can put on your website. You can also create your own banner that directs people to your dedicated profile on Amazon.
5. Show Supporters How To Sign Up
Amazon Smile is only effective if your supporters know how to use it correctly. Within your promotion of Amazon Smile on your website, peer-to-peer fundraising page, etc., be sure to include step-by-step instructions on how to sign up with Amazon Smile. Remind supporters they must be logged into their smile.amazon account in order for purchases to be eligible for donations. Donations can only be made to a single charity per purchase, also remind users they’ll need to have your organization selected for donations to count towards your mission.
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6. Set Up An Amazon Smile Charity List
Amazon Charity List is a feature of Amazon Smile that allows nonprofits to list items supporters can purchase for them. There are already hundreds of Charity Lists, supporting causes such as animals and the environment, education and youth, health, veterans, and more. Even if your nonprofit’s mission is a bit obscure, you can still ask supporters to purchase items included in overhead costs like notebooks, pens, printers, etc. To learn more about setting up an Amazon Charity List click here.
7. Apply To Be A Spotlight Charity!
Submit an application to be featured on the Amazon Smile website to build greater awareness for your organization and reach new potential donors.
ProTip: With all these useful strategies, it’s important to keep in mind that Amazon Smile is not a one size fits all online fundraising solution. The 0.5% donation does add up over time, but your supporters would have to make a sizable number of Amazon purchases to generate a sustainable amount of donations. Think of Amazon Smile as an enhancement to your social media posts, Peer-to-Peer Fundraising page, Event Page, or text-to-donate campaign, not a single marketing channel.
Amazon Smile demonstrates the power that online shopping now holds and extends it to online and mobile giving – one of the fastest-growing channels amplified by the power of purchasing on Amazon.com. Not on Amazon Smile yet? Go to https://org.amazon.com and sign up today!
Corey Blake
Digital Fundraising Strategist
MobileCause
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Our goal at MobileCause is to help nonprofit organizations create and manage successful digital fundraising campaigns, raise more money and retain donors longer. Request a free demo with one of our fundraising experts to learn, step by step, how MobileCause can simply help set up your campaigns while transforming your results.
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