Confluence Consulting
  • Home
    • About
  • Services
    • Free CSR Consultation
    • Custom Strategy
    • Implement & Manage
    • Completed Projects
  • Blog
    • Subscribe
    • 2016 Brewery Giving Report
    • Craft Brewery Analysis
  • Contact

AmazonSmile - A Different Strategy & A Different Impact

1/21/2015

2 Comments

 
Yesterday I received an email about AmazonSmile. Have you heard of this? 

Well, since the autumn of 2013, customers who purchase items on AmazonSmile will be able to direct a donation from Amazon to a charity of their choice that is 0.5% of the purchase price.

I was surprised that: (1) I had never been emailed or presented about this before while shopping on Amazon and (2) why have I not heard from charities that I support about this?

Why this program is great?
First, there is no cap on the donation amount, as USA Today pointed out, that even high-end art is eligible and theoretically Amazon would make a  $25,000 contribution for a $5 million piece of art work.

Next, we, the customers, have the opportunity to help our charities. Typically, businesses will have a limited selection of charities to choose from, if at all, when running a campaign like this. Through the AmazonSmile Foundation, they will make the donation to your personally selected nonprofit (which they state there are over 1 million participating). This clearly adds more value to the customers purchase and may push some consumers to buy from Amazon, thus giving Amazon a stronger hold on their strategic position against its competitors.

If we compare AmazonSmile to Walmart, Walmart has its local giving program and donated $316.3 million in 2013. It awards grants to several different nonprofits in communities, but only if they are one of the "pillars" Walmart is focusing on (see side table "Walmart Foundation Facts).

We were not able to find out how much Amazon donated in 2013 or 2014. Making an estimation is difficult as not every purchase happens on AmazonSmile, not all products are available on AmazonSmile, and international customers cannot pick their local charities. However, in 2013 Amazon totaled $74.45 billion in revenues and if we pretend the same revenues for the 12-month period from when the program began and all purchases were made through AmazonSmile, that would be a donation of $372 million (a very high estimate).
Picture


Walmart Foundation Facts

  • Donated $1.3 billion in cash and in-kind donations around the world in 2013.
  • $316.3 million of 2013 donations were cash.
  • Focuses on programs that focus on: hunger relief & healthy eating; sustainability; women's economic empowerment; career opportunity; and special interests including veterans & disaster relief. 
  • Walmart 2013 Revenues: $473.1 billion
  • Total 2013 Donations/Revenue - 0.3%

Read More
2 Comments
    Picture

    Subscribe Here

    Search Blog

    Archives

    May 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014



    Contributors

    Brian Phipps

    Categories

    All
    Breweries
    Confluence Tap
    Corporate Social Responsibility
    Guest Articles
    Human Resources
    Maps
    Marketing
    Operations
    Strategy

    RSS Feed

SERVICES
Free CSR Consultation
Custom Strategy
Implement/Manage
CONTACT
720.341.8365
2119 Williams St
Denver, CO 80205
CONNECT
Picture
Confluence Ltd. 
Est. 2014