> I'm sure many people like the ease of donating through this program. This is exactly the controversy. Customers are not making donations in these types of pr

> I'm sure many people like the ease of donating through this program. This is exactly the controversy. Customers are not making donations in these types of programs. Whether a portion of the proceeds are donated or not, the customer pays the same price. Hence, all of it is the retailer's income. The customer only influences to whom the retailer donates and how much. And because the customer is not the donor in the transaction, organizations do not get contact information. Despite this arrangement, customers often consider themselves a donor anyway, and some have argued this can lead to a reduction in overall donations as a result. > Finally the last part of your comment is so disturbing. It is disturbing. Myths abound, and organizations sometimes struggle to educate donors about the basics of philanthropy, especially the larger numbers of donors with smaller pockets. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/why-amazon-is-smiling-and_b_4360405 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/why-amazon-is-smiling-and_b_4... In the case of AmazonSmile, I think it's hit or miss. Plenty of organizations get paltry payouts. We've averaged less than $20 a quarter since we've been participating over the last four years, and almost of third of those quarters had no payout at all.