Why Is Amazon Ending Its Charity Program? Company Axes 'Smile' Amid Mass Layoffs

Amazon will be closing its charity program, AmazonSmile, in the coming weeks in the latest example of the company's broader cost-cutting efforts.

In a blog post on Wednesday, the company said the program will shut down by Feb. 20, a decade after it began. Through the program, Amazon donates a percentage of eligible purchases on the site to the shopper's chosen charity organization.

The company said it has donated roughly $500 million to charities since the program launched in 2013, but the average donation to charities was less than $230.

"After almost a decade, the program has not grown to create the impact that we had originally hoped," the company said. "With so many eligible organizations — more than 1 million globally — our ability to have an impact was often spread too thin."

The impacted charities will receive a one-time donation worth three months of what they received in 2022, Amazon explained, noting that charities will still be able to receive donations until the program officially ends.

"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," the company said.

After the AmazonSmile program ends, the company said charities can still create wish lists that customers can use to shop for their organizations of choice.

Amazon has not been immune to the wide-ranging layoffs sweeping through the tech industry, recently enacting the largest round of layoffs in its history and instituting a hiring freeze across its corporate workforce.

Other tech companies, such as Meta, Salesforce, and Microsoft, are also letting workers go after ramping up hiring over the past couple of years, when the pandemic made shifted consumers' focus toward the tech sector.

"Amazon has weathered uncertain and difficult economies in the past, and we will continue to do so," CEO Andy Jassy said in a message to employees earlier this month. "These changes will help us pursue our long-term opportunities with a stronger cost structure."