Shop 'Til Ya Drop…with the Amazon Smile Donation Program
By Lynnette Metcalf, G.G., GIA
Being a curious rockhounder, always looking for ways to help ETGMS raise money to fund its education, field trips and other events, I made an astounding discovery!* If you use Amazon’s Smile program to order your products and services, Amazon Smile will donate 0.5% of ALL eligible purchases you make to the charity of your choice! That’s right…a charity as in Non-Profit organization. The East Texas Gem and Mineral Society or ETGMS.ORG…is a 501c3, charitable organization.
There is one very important step members must take to help ETGMS benefit from this extraordinary Amazon program:
LOG IN using www.Smile.Amazon.com (that’s www.SMILE.amazon.com) using your normal user name and password. There is no special login ID and using the site WILL NOT affect Amazon Prime members’ benefits or any other Amazon special programs.
After logging in, Amazon pops a window stating what the program is and how to designate an organization. You must enter the ETGMS name in the charitable organization site search line.
VERY IMPORTANT: Amazon Smile doesn’t accept acronyms.
After entering our full name, East Texas Gem and Mineral Society, into the search line and pressing Enter, I was elated to read that Amazon Smile has a record of ETGMS and the club qualifies as a Non-Profit 501c3 organization to receive that 0.5% donation!! How cool is THAT!
Once Amazon Smile accepts our club as your choice, the screen shifts and offers you an app for your device’s browser so that you’ll always have a bookmark/link to the Smile.Amazon.Com location. Using that link, you will always login to the charity site and when you purchase a Smile eligible item (eligibility will be indicated) ETGMS will receive Amazon Smile Foundation donation dollars. To be clear, Amazon Smile does not add .05% to your purchase price. The donations are funded by the Amazon Smile Foundation which has provided over $145 million to 501c3 organizations to date.
When a club member purchases an eligible item and has designated ETGMS as the Amazon Smile Foundation charity recipient, Amazon will contact ETGMS to determine how our club is able to receive those donations. Its money in the bank for ETGMS for programs and services.
Remember: it is www.smile.amazon.com. Help the East Texas Gem and Mineral Society achieve its goals. It’s painless…and you still get the Amazon service you expect. It’s a WIN-WIN!
*With thanks to the Austin Gem & Mineral Society Newsletter The Stone Chipper, Aug 2019 Ed, and the Smile.Amazon.Com website
Page updated 12/24/2019
Photos taken by Kinney Polve and Margaret Kilanski
