How to add a charity to Amazon Smile is a simple way for you to support your favorite charities if you shop on Amazon. This program is available at smile.amazon.com. On AmazonSmile, you can donate about 0.5% of your eligible purchases.
On AmazonSmile, customers who are going to shop need to select a charitable organization from over a million eligible charities. For customers who want a portion of their purchases for donations—that is, 0.5%— They can do this if the purchase meets the requirements.
Why Should Add a Charity to Amazon Smile?
One of the characteristics of a good charitable organization is having more than one channel of organizational income. So, enrolling your organization in the AmazonSmile program is an additional way for organizations to increase revenue. A great addition to your efforts to make money for the organization.
For charitable organizations, this program can help increase the organization’s income. Also, they can obtain several benefits from the AmazonSmile program. The advantage for the organization is that there is no fee for the organization. Even better, AmazonSmile does not cut any costs from the organization. A charity only needs to register and have a bank account to receive donations.
Guideline to Add Charity to Amazon Smile
Then, if you want to register your charitable organization, how to add a charity to Amazon Smile? Here are the steps you need to take to start signing up for AmazonSmile. Just follow the four easy steps below on how to add a charity to AmazonSmile. Just prepare a few things and your organization can join the program.
Meets Charitable Organization Requirements
There are several steps on how to add a charity to Amazon Smile. But, before you sign up for AmazonSmile, there are a few requirements that you and your organization need to meet. Here are the requirements that charitable organizations must meet to join AmazonSmile:
- Register and in good relation with the IRS as a 501(c)(3)
- Has the status of a public charity and does not belong to a private foundation. You may not have the status of a supporting organization, unless the organization is a special type I, type II, or type III of supporting organization.
- Located in any of the 50 states in the United States, District of Columbia, Samoa, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, or United States Virgin Islands
- Submitting bank account information to receive donation payments
- Do not engage in or support intolerance, hatred, terrorism, money laundering, or other illegal activities
If your organization has met the requirements above, then you can proceed to the next process. It is the time to start the registration on the AmazonSmile page.
Starting your Registration on AmazonSmile
You have been appointed by the organization as an administrator to register for AmazonSmile, so how to add a charity to AmazonSmile? Follow the steps below:
- First, make sure that you are an authorized representative of your organization. Then, on the registration page, search for your charitable organization by name or EIN. Also, make sure you choose the right organization because many non-profit organizations have similar names.
- After that, you—as the representative—need to create an administrator account for your charitable organization and accept the AmazonSmile Participation Agreement on behalf of your organization. As the organization’s representative administrator at AmazonSmile, you have the authority to access AmazonSmile program information on behalf of the charitable organization.
- Verify your email address. It is better if you use an email associated with your charitable organization. If AmazonSmile needs to provide important information, this is the email to contact. Through this email, AmazonSmile also sends information on the amount of your donation and promotion of the AmazonSmile program.
- Submit your organization’s account information.
- To verify your organization’s bank account, you will need to upload a copy of the voided check or bank statement.
How to Add a Charity to Amazon Smile – Accept Donations
To receive donations, AmazonSmile will send the collected donations via fund transfer every quarter. The transfer process will take place approximately 45 days after the end of the quarter.
You can donate 0.5% of eligible purchases to charities. Of all the products sold on AmazonSmile, there are products marked “Eligible for AmazonSmile donations”. This product can be chosen by the customer.
If a customer purchases a product that meets the requirements and the donation has been collected, then at the end of the period (quarter), AmazonSmile will send a fund transfer. However, there is a minimum amount that must be earned from customers’ purchases, which is as much as $5.00 in each period. If within that period the minimum amount has not been collected, then AmazonSmile will wait for the next period until the minimum amount is reached.
When the minimum amount is not met in four consecutive periods, then AmazonSmile will disburse the donation to you, even if the minimum amount has not been reached. So, you don’t have to worry if your organization doesn’t get a donation. However, this can be a reason for you to immediately start a new campaign so that your program on AmazonSmile runs optimally.
Deploy Campaign
No one will know if you don’t spread the word about your organization’s participation on AmazonSmile. So, tell this to the supporters of your organization. To spread this campaign, you can visit org.amazon.com to access the marketing tools. Just click “Marketing Tools” in your org.amazon.com account to get a link to a customized AmazonSmile for your charitable organization.
Also, note that customers need to register to use AmazonSmile. You can do this process by visiting the smile.amazon.com page. Customers of AmazonSmile can then choose the charity they want to donate to. Remind them to choose your organization to support in the AmazonSmile program.
Share this link via your email newsletter, website, or social media. You can also access banners for your website and share widgets on Facebook as well as Twitter. Make sure you comply with the Program Content Guidelines in promoting the AmazonSmile program. So, supporters and customers have a good experience following the campaigns you distribute.
Sum Up
Those are the ways on how to add a charity to Amazon Smile. By including your charitable organization there, Amazon will donate 0.5% of purchases on AmazonSmile to your organization. The good thing for shoppers is that Amazon and AmazonSmile are the same, they have the same products, the same prices, and the same service.
The convenience of using the AmazonSmile program is a good reason for your organization to participate. You can also use this as a free marketing tool for your charitable organization. This program is an ideal tool for Amazon customers who want to donate and make a difference. So, don’t miss this program to collect donations for the development of your organization.
In terms of privacy, customers who shop on AmazonSmile also have nothing to worry about. Amazon does not share personal information from customers even if they choose to support an organization through shopping.
FAQ
Here are some popular questions about how to add a charity to Amazon Smile:
What is Amazon Smile Program?
Amazon Smile is a program that aims to maximize the contributions of any non-profit while people purchase at smile.amazon.com. Or, even if people are shopping on Amazon shopping applications on Android or IOS devices, Amazon Smile is a great way to get donations and contributions.
As a charity, what can you earn through Amazon Smile?
Straightaway, you will be receiving a 0.5% donation from the eligible purchases of the customers. That means there will be no out-of-pocket costs for you. Plus, these donations will be paid out to the charities once every one year. So, after 28 days after the calendar quarter ends, you should expect to receive the eligible donations.
The minimum amount to be eligible for year-wise charity donations should meet $6.65. So, if you cannot meet this amount in one year, the raised money of that particular year gets carried forward to the next calendar quarter. It seems significantly functional, right!
Who can register on Amazon Smile?
Only registered and official charities registered under Charities Commission can register on Amazon Smile. If you want to use the different fundraising options from businesses like PayPal, Facebook, and Amazon, you should be a registered charity.
How to start joining Amazon Smile Program?
To get started, you must go with your charity registration using an Organization Administration Account. So, we suggest that an Organization Administration account must get registered to an official representative of your non-profit and charity. That means this person (the representative) will have all the access to manage and handle your charity’s Amazon Smile Account. So, it becomes essential as a charity owner to have a responsible person to take the access. Plus, they will be using the email address to log in and log off into Amazon Smile.
How to start the enrollment process in this program?
Here, you have to search for your official charity name. Generally, the names of the different non-profits have their registration with the Charities Commission. But, yes, you may find some others with similar charity names as yours, so be alert! If you have a charity number, it can be the best way to get your name on the list using it. But, ensure that the number is 100% unique to your organization. Further, you can continue to the next page and fill in all the details in the form.
How to verify your account for this program?
you will be receiving an OTP (One Time Password) in your registered email. We suggest you continuously check your spam folder for the OTP if you cannot get it at once. Also, it will be wise to wait for a few minutes before you hit the “Resend OTP” button.
Next, look out to complete your administration profile. So, you can fill in all your legit details, and the on-screen prompts will help you along this process. You can now click the “Amazon Smile Participation Agreement” checkbox and then send on “Send Email Verification.” As you receive a link on your email after this, click the link to complete the enrolment process.
How to add your bank account details?
You should be adding the account details of the charity to receive donations. On the other hand, if you fail to add the bank account details of your organization, you will not be eligible to receive assistance from Amazon Smile. Once your charity is registered with Amazon Smile, you are ready to receive donations.
References:
- How Your Non-Profit Can Use AmazonSmile to Receive Donations – https://killeenchamber.com/how_your_non_profit_can_use_amazonsmile_to_receive_donations
- How to Set Up an Amazon Smile Account for Your Nonprofit – https://technologyaloha.com/how-to-set-up-an-amazon-smile-account-for-your-nonprofit/
- Image: swardestoncc.co.uk/about-us/amazon-smile/
