Generosity is a hallmark of the public activity of many large companies. Either it is done for PR reasons or because of the compassion of management or owners. Amazon shut down its most visible charitable donation program. It is a strange decision. The program is small compared to Amazon’s massive revenue and battle tank-like balance sheet.
The AmazonSmile charitable program started in 2013. Since then, it has brought in $499 million in donations. The money comes from Amazon customers who donate a tiny part of their purchases. The actual cost to Amazon is negligible. The company does make charitable donations elsewhere.
Amazon’s excuse was, “With so many eligible organizations—more than 1 million globally—our ability to have an impact was often spread too thin.” That is not much of an excuse. Amazon could have picked a much smaller number than one million, and targeting the money would have had an effect, and perhaps a significant one.
Amazon’s decision may be tied to its laying off 18,000 people. No one outside the company will know that, but the two announcements came almost simultaneously.
Both the layoffs and the shuttering of the charity have to be viewed in the light of the $60 billion on its balance sheet. Perhaps management knew that it would never replace the laid-off workers. The jobs that do may never be replaced. Charitable donations are different matters. The people and organizations that need them will need them the day AmazonSmile disappears. (These are 20 perks of Prime membership you may not know about.)
Are You Still Paying With a Debit Card?
The average American spends $17,274 on debit cards a year, and it’s a HUGE mistake. First, debit cards don’t have the same fraud protections as credit cards. Once your money is gone, it’s gone. But more importantly you can actually get something back from this spending every time you swipe.
Issuers are handing out wild bonuses right now. With some you can earn up to 5% back on every purchase. That’s like getting a 5% discount on everything you buy!
Our top pick is kind of hard to imagine. Not only does it pay up to 5% back, it also includes a $200 cash back reward in the first six months, a 0% intro APR, and…. $0 annual fee. It’s quite literally free money for any one that uses a card regularly. Click here to learn more!
Flywheel Publishing has partnered with CardRatings to provide coverage of credit card products. Flywheel Publishing and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.
Latest from 24/7
Our expert who first called NVIDIA in 2009 is predicting 2025 will see a historic AI breakthrough.
You can follow him investing $500,000 of his own money on our top AI stocks for free.