HOW YOUR CHARITY MUST PIVOT SINCE AMAZON SMILES IS DONE
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As many of you have seen and heard thru the interwebs, AMAZON SMILES is ending 2/20/2023. What does this mean? What are some steps you should take if you relied on that funding? AND what is my recommendation on making up some of that funding?
Let’s unpack this uncomfortable move Amazon has made and how we can as nonprofits protect and move forward with better resiliency.
WHAT HAPPENED WITH AMAZON SMILES AND WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
Amazon put out the following statement about their decision and where they are going to be instead of donating. Essentially, they are choosing the beneficiaries of their donation funds vs spreading it throughout a mass of smaller nonprofits. Basically, effecting a larger impact and change. As a consultant, its a wise choice, AND as a consultant for nonprofits who are ALL on Amazon smiles, its heartbreaking. They also only gave nonprofits a little over a month to adjust and its frankly just not enough time.
WHAT ARE SOME STEPS WE CAN TAKE NOW THAT AMAZON SMILES IS CANCELED?
Let’s say your nonprofit relied on this funding for about 25% of your annual income. This decision is crushing. Ok, so what did we learn though from this? We learned that large corporations owe charities NOTHING. We also learned in 2020 that event-focused methods don’t translate well either to lockdowns and pandemics. So to me, the key here is multiple revenue streams and enacting your donor base for campaigns thru social media connections and impact-driven communications. This might look like a few small events a year, service projects (digital and physical), annual fund initiatives where you hit your donor base from all sides (online and in person) as well as impact-driven connection and communications online.
Sounds great Dani, but what about those shopaholics that still want to give?! Don’t worry, I have a solution for you.
CONFESSIONS FROM AN PRIME ADDICT WHO USED AMAZON SMILES
How about you build your own mini shop of items for your nonprofit! Create a dropship store thru PRINTFUL with your nonprofit’s logo, quotes, branding and imaging.
WHAT IS DROPSHIPPING?
Drop shipping is where another company will print, ship, and charge the client for you. You don’t have to hold the items in your home like a warehouse, worry about running to the post office, etc. They handle it all and only charge you for what is purchased. The best part is that it’s FREE to sign up and doesn't cost to maintain a store. You are not paying for unsold t-shirts or merch. Not even for your account with them! How awesome is that?!
WHY DOES THIS WORK FOR NONPROFITS?
Not only will it spread the word about your cause but it can also serve as a place for your volunteers to grab a shirt before an event etc. You hold no overhead except for the possible subscription jump on Squarespace and membership to TaxJar.
THE BEST PART?
You can bump up the costs so that a little of each sale goes back to you as a nonprofit. Win-Win!
WANT TO SEE SOME EXAMPLES?
We did exactly this for one of my nonprofit clients SPEAK UP FOR KIDS. I also have a PRINTFUL store on my website thru my Merch That Matters, where again, proceeds go to my selected nonprofit.
Ok, so here is what you need to do to set up a PRINTFUL store:
Set up an account HERE
Create designs, add them to your products, and PUBLISH. Don’t worry, they help with all of this!
Connect to your website (Squarespace makes this STUPID EASY)
Grab TaxJar to make reporting on sales tax easy
Email all of your donors about Amazon Smiled ending AND ask them to place an order.
While this news from Amazon is pretty gut wrenching for us nonprofits, it makes since for us to adjust and shore up our funding sources. Creating more centralized and local options that can bring your donors closer and more directly to you is always a great idea.
Make sure to check out how to set up PRINTFUL for your website and reach out if you get stuck and need help.
