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Amazon stops charity donation program as cost cuts continue

Amazon will discontinue its charity donation program as it continues to cut costs.

AmazonSmile is a program where the company donates a percentage of eligible purchases made on the site to the customer's chosen charity.

It was introduced in 2013 and has seen around $500 million donated to charities.

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But Amazon now intends to discontinue AmazonSmile by February 20, according to a notice to customers posted on the company's website.

The statement said: “After almost a decade, the program has not grown to create the impact that we had originally hope.“

"With so many eligible organizations -- more than 1 million globally -- our ability to have an impact was often spread too thin.”

The average donation to charities was less than $230, Amazon said.

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Amazon will keep investing in areas where it can "create a substantial difference," such as helping with relief efforts for natural disasters, initiatives for affordable housing, and community support programs.

In addition to implementing a recruiting freeze throughout its corporate employees, Amazon has started the largest round of layoffs in company history.

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As Jassy has attempted to control costs, the company has put a stop to warehouse expansion and canceled a few test initiatives, including its healthcare service and a quirky, kid-friendly video conferencing device.

Source: CNBC

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