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Amazon and Charity

by hikerguy777
7 replies
Quick newbie question about Amazon Associates (I sent them a support request as well, but have not heard back).

If I want to set up a site where I donate a portion of the proceeds to charity, what am I allowed to announce so I am not in violation of their Operating Agreement?

https://affiliate-program.amazon.com...assoc_help_t15

I think if I say "We give a portion of the proceeds of each sale to charity" I am ok, but if I say "We give a portion of the proceeds to [XYZ Charity]" we are not. Is that correct?

Also, am I allowed to create a generic affiliate link from my site to amazon? Or do I need it to link to a specific product?

Thanks in advance,
Tony
#amazon #charity
  • Profile picture of the author hikerguy777
    bump...anyone?
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  • Profile picture of the author Shannon Tani
    I think this might be a question to ask Amazon directly.

    I once asked them if it was OK to set up an affiliate account in the name of a charity. For example, set it up for a school, then tell all parents to order through the school's link to earn money for the school. Amazon told me that it was not OK, though I could set it up under my name and personally donate to the school.

    If you do this, you'll be responsible for paying the taxes. I know that you'll then be able to take a deduction for the amount that you donate to charity, but I am not sure that it's a dollar for dollar deduction.

    Love,
    Shannon
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  • Profile picture of the author hikerguy777
    Thanks Shannon!

    I did ask Amazon but so far have gotten nothing back. I would set it up as a personal account then donate a portion to a set of non-profits.

    I'm more concerned about how I message it on my affiliate site - I want to be able to say something like "we donate all (or a portion) of our funds to charity". I'm not sure if that is allowed per their operating agreement.
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    • Profile picture of the author hikerguy777
      Quick followup on this....hopefully it will be useful to someone in the WF in the future.

      So I got some resolution. My response back from Amazon is below (still not 100% clear). So I called their customer service line - the customer service rep said that no references to donating any funds to charity are allowed on any affiliate site. You are allowed to promote via Facebook or a separate blog that you donate funds to charity but not directly on your site.


      Response from Amazon:


      ===


      Thanks for writing to the Amazon Associates Program. We do appreciate your concerns regarding our Operating Agreement and wanting to be in compliance. At this time we are unable to provide you with specific advice in response to your question. I would suggest contacting a legal professional if you have any further questions of this nature.


      You are free to donate their earnings to a charity, but may not announce to your visitors that a portion or all the proceeds will go to a charity. Please know that Associates are not allowed to offer incentives to visitors to purchase through their links by stating a certain amount will be donated, rebated, etc.


      Given the relatively slim retail margins on our products and our strong discount pricing, the advertising fees we offer to our Associates can only be sustained by meeting new customers through our Associates. These customers may return to us in the future for items unrelated to the topics served by the Associate web site, and this future business helps to offset the advertising fees we pay. This is why we don't allow Associates to offer incentives; we want to keep the program viable for the long-term.

      ===
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  • Profile picture of the author JCorp
    Good to know for the future. But I wonder why they were only able to partially advise you on the matter and told you to contact a legal professional. Isn't it their guidelines?
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    • Profile picture of the author Kay King
      Isn't it their guidelines?
      That's what they did - advised only on THEIR guidelines.

      So - you can send your check from Amazon to a charity....but you can't advertise "buy from my link for charity".

      There is more to it as there are laws that restrict charitable gifts and foundations and Amazon can only define their rules. If you use Paypal or other payment processors - there are restrictions and requirements that apply to charity that must be met.

      This is one of those ideas that you need to research and understand from every angle in advance as you could put your accounts at risk.

      kay
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  • Profile picture of the author hikerguy777
    If you go to the link below it says: "Associates may donate their earnings to a charity, but may not announce to their visitors in any way that a portion or all of the proceeds will go to a particular charity."

    I think they advised us to seek legal counsel to make sure if they decided to give us a warning or kick us from the program that we would have recourse per their policies. I'm not going to pay a lawyer to make sure I'm in compliance though...I don't make that kind of money

    https://affiliate-program.amazon.com...assoc_help_t15
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