Amazon breaks past $100m in charitable donations from sales

Amazon's charitable donation programme, Amazonsmile, this month surpassed a milestone of $100m (£78m) in donations since it began in 2013.

Shoppers can opt in to Amazonsmile for free when using Amazon in the UK, US and Germany, whereby the tech giant adds to their purchase with a 0.5 per cent donation to a charity of their choice.

There are more than 1m charities listed on the programme, with those involved in the scheme including the World Wildlife Fund, Oxfam, and local UK charities such as disabled adults holiday camp Odyssians.

Amazon added that from today until 2 November it will add a 5 per cent donation to every purchase of eligible products on its site, to celebrate achieving the milestone.

The programme is one of many philanthrophic endeavours carried out by Amazon and its founder Jeff Bezos, as the company seeks to improve its image. It recently announced a wage hike in the UK.

“Hundreds of thousands of charities have been able to expand their meaningful work thanks to the donations they’ve received through AmazonSmile, and we want to say thank you to customers who are supporting important causes every time they shop,” said Jeff Wilke, Amazon's worldwide consumer chief.

“We appreciate all the positive feedback from customers who say they love having a simple way to help support their favourite charity.”