Amazon Alexa users can donate to 40 US charities by voice

"Alexa: make a donation to...". Donations by voice are now possible for an initial 40 nonprofits in the USA. Amazon has introduced Alexa Donations, a service that allows users to make a donation hands free using only their voice. No set-up is required for Alexa users. Donations are fulfilled through Amazon Pay using the customers' preferred payment method associated with their Amazon account. Among the first tranche of charities to benefit are St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, The American Cancer Society, Feeding America, the Wounded Warrior Project, and Comic Relief [USA]. Richard Shadyac Jr., President and CEO of ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organisation for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, said: "We are incredibly grateful to Amazon and its generous customers who will harness the power of voice technology in support of the lifesaving mission of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital." Patrick Gauthier, Vice President, Amazon Pay, added: "For the first time ever, Alexa customers can donate to charities like St. Jude Children's Research Hospital hands-free using just their voice. We can't wait for customers to try this out while donating to great causes like this." There is no confirmation when this will be extended to UK charities. Amazon recently extended its AmazonSmile affiliate donation programme to UK charities, having introduced it first to US nonprofits, so it is likely that Alexa Donations will follow a similar process. Over 2,000 UK charities registered with AmazonSmile in its first month. To date, the AmazonSmile programme has donated more than $4.6 million to St. Jude in the USA. In addition, the hospital charity will soon be accepting donations via Amazon Pay on its website.    

from UK Fundraising https://ift.tt/2qjemyy