How Your Shopping Can Help Charities

It feels good to give back right?  

Donating with time or money really gives us a dose of emotional wellness.

Unfortunately, some of us may not be able to give back like we want to.  We may be financially unable, we don’t have the time to donate or we may have a physical disability/difficulty that prevents us from being able to volunteer. 

Great news!  We can all give back by letting our shopping trip donate to a charity of our choice automatically – with either Amazon or Kroger.  

These are shopping trips we would have been making already, so no extra money or time is needed.

So how do we get our shopping to help charities?

First Up-Amazon!  

Who doesn’t have an Amazon account?  

Well- did you know they offer a charity shopping version of their own site called Amazon Smile?  

You can pick from a long list of charities that will receive a donation (they state it is .50%) with eligible purchases that you make. 

They also have elementary/high schools on the list- so you can look up your child’s school if you prefer for them to receive the benefit. 

To get started, log in to your existing Amazon account (same login information) using smile.amazon.com

It will ask you to pick a charity of your choice- and there are a lot to pick from.  Select your charity and then start shopping as you normally would.  

That’s it!

The only downfall is if you use the app on your iPhone it doesn’t automatically link to Smile- you have to activate it on your phone first.

To activate it, you first need to sign up for AmazonSmile, then:

Go to Settings-Click Amazon Smile-Choose “Turn On Amazon Smile.”

If you’re using a Mac computer, there’s an app called SmileAllDay.  It’s a free Safari extension & it redirects you to Smile. Amazon in case you forget.

For Android phone users, the app does work with the Smile option. Just log in to your regular Amazon app, choose Settings-Amazon Smile- and follow the remaining instructions for setup. 

Regardless of what method you’re using to log in to the Smile option, you sign in with the same login information you normally would use-nothing is different. Then you can choose what charity you would like your donations to go to.

You can read more about it on their actual site where they really break it down for you:  Smile.Amazon

One neat feature they have is the ability to see how much that specific charity has received, as well as how much all charities have received from all Smile.Amazon shoppers.

There are so many great charities to choose from and you can change at any time. 

For example, you can change your charity of choice each quarter or semiannually, so that the donations are split up amongst several charities. 

It’s a shame that they don’t automatically prompt all shoppers to choose a charity when they first open their account.  You have to take the extra steps (very easy-but still) to make sure you set this up. 

There’s power in numbers & it shows when you see how much has been raised by other Smile shoppers.

Give Back to a Local Charity While Grocery Shopping

……with Kroger Community Rewards.  Each time you use your Kroger rewards card, a certain amount goes towards the charity you chose. You just have to remember to use your card or nothing will go towards the charity.

We all have to go grocery shopping right?

Even though it may not be a large amount of each purchase, it adds up week after week, trip after trip. This way you’re giving back automatically and consistently.  

Ok, so how do you get your card and charity choice set up?

Setting it up is as easy as 1-2-3.

You need to have a Kroger savings card. If you don’t have one-go to the Customer Service kiosk and get one. It’s not a credit card-it’s a store savings card.

To set it up-

1. Log in to your Kroger online account.  
2. Then under “My Account” choose Community Rewards
3. Pick the local charity you want

There- you’re done!  It’s as easy as that.  You’re already grocery shopping and this way it can help out small local charities.  

I have my card linked to an animal adoption shelter in our area so it can help them buy food, blankets, litter, etc for their shelter. 

Kroger is part of a large family of other grocery stores – including Ralph’s and Fred Meyers. All stores within the Kroger family participate in the Community Rewards program.

With both of these charity options, it’s pretty much “set it and forget it.”

Charities are important, and the feeling of worth that you get when you give contributes to our overall wellness- especially our emotional wellness.