What AmazonSmile was
AmazonSmile launched in 2013 as a simple idea: shop at smile.amazon.com, pick a charity, and Amazon donates 0.5% of your eligible purchases to it at no cost to you. Over nearly a decade it directed about $500 million to hundreds of thousands of organizations. It was beloved because it was effortless — once a shopper chose a cause, giving happened in the background.
But 0.5% is a fraction of a percent. A supporter would have to spend $200 to generate a single dollar. For most nonprofits, the total trickled in at a few dollars a year per supporter, and the program's value was more in goodwill than in dollars.
Why it ended — and why the gap remains
In February 2023, Amazon wound AmazonSmile down, explaining that spreading half a percent across so many organizations meant the impact per charity was too small to be meaningful. The math that made it effortless also made it thin.
Three years later, nonprofits are still searching for "an AmazonSmile alternative" because the easy, set-it-and-forget-it everyday-giving slot in their funding mix went empty. The lesson from AmazonSmile's end isn't that passive giving doesn't work — it's that the share has to be high enough to matter.
What to look for in a successor
- A higher share than 0.5% — a slice of merchant profit beats a sliver of the sale
- Recurring payouts, not one-time or seasonal
- One-time setup for supporters, then zero effort
- Everyday spend people already do, not occasional online orders
- Local focus, so dollars and loyalty stay in your community
- Free for your nonprofit, with unrestricted funds
For the full framework behind these criteria, see passive fundraising explained and the plain-language what is passive fundraising.
An honest comparison
| AmazonSmile (2013–2023) | A local profit-share model | |
|---|---|---|
| Share to cause | 0.5% of eligible online purchases | A share of merchant profit per sale |
| Spend captured | Online Amazon orders | Everyday local spending |
| Per-supporter / year | Typically a few dollars | Estimated ~$72 (varies) |
| Recurring? | Yes, while active | Yes |
| Helps local economy? | No | Yes — keeps spend local |
| Status | Shut down Feb 2023 | Launching Sept 2026 (MS-first) |
Figures are estimates and depend on how many supporters enroll and how much they spend. Model your own with the passive funding calculator.
The local successor that funds more
The reason a local model can fund so much more than AmazonSmile is simple arithmetic. Instead of half a percent of an online order, the cause receives a share of the merchant's profit on everyday local purchases — typically a few dollars per sale rather than a few cents. Across a base of active supporters shopping all year, that's the difference between a token and a real, budgetable income stream.
Good Circles funds more — and keeps it local
Good Circles is a community marketplace launching September 2026. Supporters pick your cause once, then a share of their everyday local spending funds you automatically — about $72 per active supporter per year (≈ $36,000/year from 500 supporters), recurring and unrestricted. Free for nonprofits and shoppers, and shoppers save about 10%. Founding Nonprofit status for early adopters; a waitlist everywhere outside Mississippi.
Claim a Founding Nonprofit spot →Sources & tools
Free first
- Amazon — AmazonSmile program shutdown announcement — Amazon's own February 2023 statement explaining why AmazonSmile ended (impact spread too thin), the primary source for any AmazonSmile claim.
- National Council of Nonprofits — Commercial Co-Ventures and Cause-Related Marketing — Explains how percent-of-sales shopping/cause-marketing arrangements (the category AmazonSmile lived in) work and the state registration rules that govern successors.
- IRS — Unrelated Business Income Tax: Exceptions and Exclusions — Confirms passive royalty/affiliate-style payments are generally excluded from UBIT, so AmazonSmile-style shopping revenue is usually tax-free to the charity.
- FTC — Cause-Related Marketing / 'percent of sales' advertising basics — Federal rules on how a 'shop and we donate' claim must be presented truthfully — the disclosure standard any AmazonSmile replacement must meet.
- Candid — Free fundraising tools and nonprofit resources — Hub of free, vetted fundraising resources to rebuild an everyday-giving funnel after losing AmazonSmile.
Paid — optional labor-savers
- Double the Donation — Matching-gift and workplace-giving database that surfaces 'free money' tied to everyday corporate programs. Worth it when Worth it when many of your supporters work at companies with matching-gift or volunteer-grant programs you're not yet capturing.
- Donorbox — Low-fee donation and recurring-gift platform with embeddable forms. Worth it when Worth it when you want a quick, cheap way to convert AmazonSmile-era casual supporters into recurring donors.
Last verified 2026-06-16. Figures and rules change — verify at the source before you act.
FAQ
What happened to AmazonSmile?
AmazonSmile donated 0.5% of eligible purchases to a shopper's chosen charity and gave out roughly $500 million across nearly a decade. Amazon shut it down in February 2023, saying the impact was spread too thin to be meaningful per organization, leaving many nonprofits without an everyday-giving option.
What should nonprofits look for in an AmazonSmile alternative?
Look for a higher share returned to your cause than 0.5%, recurring rather than occasional payouts, low effort for supporters, and ideally a local focus so spending and loyalty stay in your community. The successors that fund the most capture everyday local spend and return a slice of profit, not a fraction of a percent.
Is there a local AmazonSmile alternative?
Yes. Good Circles is a local-first community marketplace launching September 2026. Supporters pick a cause once, then a share of their everyday local spending funds it automatically — estimated at about $72 per active supporter per year, recurring and unrestricted, and free for nonprofits.