I was having a meeting today, and the topic was fundraising. I'd kind of gotten out of the fundraising scene for two reasons: people tend to think I'm up to something and people don't tend to use it well. I am not up to something. I run Educabana, and we offer 3% back on purchases through Amazon. We tried having a huge portfolio of affiliates to provide choice, but we ended up with accounting and updating nightmares., so from now on it will be Amazon, 3%, and simple. But people still don't use it a lot, which is frustrating when I get yet another order form to sell $10 frozen pizzas.

The interesting thing about the meeting today was how smoothly it went, and I think it's partially because of Amazon's Smile program. My client knew about the program, but I had not kept up with fundraising trends, so I figured Amazon was matching our 3%. Nope. She said Amazon offered 1%, but I also saw .5% elsewhere online. My wife asked why, and I assumed it was because the Smile account is set up for users to track their own spending and donating, not as ads placed on sites. Therefore, Amazon could ALSO be paying a percentage to advertisers, as well, so they're not going to offer too much. I don't really know the exact terms and conditions of the Smile program, but I do know that if you're not concerned with your profile showing off your donation, Educabana is a much better fundraising deal right now.