AmazonSmile offers all of the same items, prices, and benefits of its sister website, Amazon.com, but with one distinct difference.

When users shop on AmazonSmile, the retailer’s Foundation2 contributes 0.5% of eligible purchases to the charity of your choice.

For frequent Amazon users, this additional perk is a great way to give back to charities effortlessly.

AmazonSmile can be a bit confusing for first-time users. Here are some things to remember.

The Internet address is smile.amazon.com. But the company uses the term AmazonSmile in its explanatory information.

• If you already have an Amazon account, when you click on smile.amazon.com, you will be asked to sign in. If you don’t have an account, you will need to set one up. It doesn’t cost anything to set up an Amazon account.3 There is a fee if you set up an AmazonPrime account.
• Once signed into smile.amazon.com, you will be prompted to pick a charity. You can choose one from the provided list or type in another of your choosing. There are more than one million eligible 501(c)(3) charities listed.1 Once you do that, a percentage of your purchase price on many, but not all, items will be donated to the charity of your choice.
• You must remember to go to smile.amazon.com each time you shop for all of this to work. So, consider bookmarking the site.

All users have to do is to visit smile.amazon.com (Amazon.com and Amazon mobile app purchases do not apply4) to earn 0.5% of their eligible purchase for their favorite nonprofit or cause.

There is no cost to charities or customers, and 100% of the donation generated from eligible purchases goes to the consumer’s charity of choice.

While AmazonSmile is not the only example of giving to charity while shopping, its tech solution seems unique in its convenience. However, it is essential to understand how a platform like this impacts both charities and consumers.

How Consumers Can Use AmazonSmile

AmazonSmile is very simple to use—all you need is an Amazon account. On your first visit to the site, you will be asked to log in to your Amazon account with an existing username and password (you do not need a separate account for AmazonSmile). You will then be prompted to choose a charity to support. During future visits to the site, AmazonSmile will remember your charity and apply eligible purchases towards your total contribution—  it is that easy.