Amazon has announced that it will discontinue its charity program, AmazonSmile, in approximately one month.

The company said the program had not “grown to create the impact that we had originally hoped,” and that the impact was “often spread too thin.” According to CNBC, the average donation to charities through the program was less than $230. At roughly the same time, CNBC reported that the company was laying off thousands of employees and instituting a hiring freeze.

Amazon said it will provide participating organizations with a one-time donation equivalent to three months of what they earned in 2022 through the program, and the ability to accrue additional donations until the program officially closes by February 20.

The company said it plans to continue its philanthropic efforts in other ways. “We will continue to pursue and invest in other areas where we’ve seen we can make meaningful change,” it stated, “from building affordable housing to providing access to computer science education for students in underserved communities to using our logistics infrastructure and technology to assist broad communities impacted by natural disasters.” 

(Photo credit: Unsplash/Christian Wiediger)