Why Shuttering AmazonSmile Was a Mistake: Research shows that the charitable benefits of such "giving-by-proxy" programs can extend beyond their direct impact.

The article focuses on the decision to shut down AmazonSmile, a “giving-by-proxy” program launched by Amazon in 2013 that allowed customers to designate charities to receive a small percentage of their purchases. Despite Amazon’s rationale that the program’s impact was diluted across too many charities, research indicates that AmazonSmile’s influence extended beyond direct donations by inspiring additional charitable behavior among consumers and employees. The study further suggests that the program’s effectiveness could have been preserved by limiting donations to a smaller number of high-impact charities, without reducing participants’ sense of charitable engagement. The findings advocate for organizations to adopt giving-by-proxy initiatives integrated into their incentive and marketing strategies to foster sustained prosocial behavior.