Raise "FREE" Money for the WW&F While Shopping Online

[Ed Lecuyer]

The WW&F is listed on several shopping portals for charity web sites. Visitors to these web sites can list the WW&F as their preferred charity. Then, visitors use the sites for common web tasks - searching (instead of using Google or another search engine) and shopping. Each search generates a small donation to the WW&F. Purchases generate even more revenue. Any member who uses the Internet on a regular basis is encouraged to use these sites to effortlessly raise donations to the WW&F.

The WW&F is currently registered at:
http://www.igive.com

Basically you create a free account at any of these sites. Specify the Wiscasset Waterville and Farmington Railway Museum as your charity of choice. Then click on the links on those sites to launch into your favorite online stores. Staples, AbeBooks, major travel agencies, and thousands of other sites are available. Not all shopping sites are listed on both of the portals, so check both of them out before giving up.

Since we've started doing this a few years ago, we've raised thousands of dollars for the WW&F - and that has been with just a few participants.

Its free, easy, and there is absolutely no catch. Some sites offer "search bars" to make it easier. I've never tried them and I don't generally recommend random browser plug ins. All you have to do is launch your favorite shopping site from one of these portals, and the WW&F gets a commission check based on your purchase. A couple of bucks here and there don't seem like a lot - but they really have added up over time.


[Moderator's Note]
Updated 2/24/2023 to reflect the closure of Amazon Smile.
Updated 6/18/2025 to reflect the closure of Goodshop.

[Graham Buxton]

I decided to bump this thread. 
Here is the content of an email I received from Amazon today:

This is the quarterly AmazonSmile notification to inform you that the charity you’ve selected, Wiscasset Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum, recently received a donation of $46.62, at no cost to you.

AmazonSmile's impact:  $920.29 to Wiscasset Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum*

Of course, that 'quarterly'  $46.62 is from everyone who participates in Amazon Smile and designates the WW&F to receive the benefit, and the $920.29 is over the course of multiple years.

But if you buy from Amazon, and don't already participate the Smile program, then why not have a [small] portion of your purchase go to the WW&F?  It does not cost you any more at all.   After signing up, and after selecting the WW&F as your designated charity, all you need to do is go "smile.amazon.com" instead of the regular "www.amazon.com" when you make a purchase.

More info here: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/chpf/dashboard?ref_=nav_cs_smile

[John Kokas]

Graham,  thank you for posting.  I was unaware of the program and have now signed up.

[Benjamin Richards]

I've been using Amazon Smile for a while now, and I personally find it annoying that Amazon does not automatically make the donation every time, once you sign up. You have to manually go to smile.amazon.com every time you shop, and it's pretty easy to inadvertently "walk out" of the Smile world, especially if you are using a third-party search engine to find products. Similar for the other portals, you have to be careful not to accidentally "walk out" before you complete your purchase.

I don't generally recommend random browser plug ins.

That's fair. One man's random is another's tried-and-true. I use a browser extension called Smile Always, which automatically redirects any Amazon link to its Smile equivalent. I have found it useful and unobtrusive for many years. It does not violate my privacy to the best of my knowledge. The source code is available on github if anyone is so inclined. I took a look and it is very straightforward.

[Bill Baskerville]

This is the quarterly AmazonSmile notification to inform you that the charity you’ve selected, Wiscasset Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum, recently received a donation of $46.62, at no cost to you.
AmazonSmile's impact:  $920.29 to Wiscasset Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum*

Graham,
I just received the first email and upon first read, wondered if I had bought that much from Amazon, then I realized, as you noted, that that is the contribution from all of us who use Amazon Smile and have selected the WW&F Ry as our designated charity.  When one considers that this is just one of the three venues that allow a small portion of purchased to go to our favorite charity it, as Ed noted, really adds up.

Just like each of us who manages to get to the railroad to help preform some task, it all adds up to what one sees today at Sheepscot and northward.

Merry Christmas to all!, please stay safe!  Hoping to see each of you on the other side!

Bill

[Graham Buxton]

I do sometimes search [using DuckDuckGo or Google] for products that I'm not sure who might sell, and then end up at Amazon.    And that path does not get you into the "Smile" system.

But, as long as you notice, prior to the final checkout page, that you are not using 'Smile', its easy to fix.   Even though you may already have items in your Amazon 'cart', its not necessary to blow that all away and start over. Simply replace the "www" part of the URL in  your browser with "smile" and proceed to checkout. As long as the final checkout page has the 'Smile' logo, a portion of the transaction ends up in the WW&F bucket.

My primary browser is Firefox, and I find that it is quite easy to get to "smile" (when I think about it in advance) by just typing "smi" and then clicking the "smile" selection that Firefox offers up.   Of course, that only works because Firefox remembers from my previous use. So once you start doing it, your browser may make it a bit easier.

[Bill Baskerville]

I have Amazon Smile as one of my favorites so I just click on that when I go shopping.  Like Graham, I sometimes google what I am looking for and if I end up on an Amazon link, I just copy the link, click on the Smile favorite then paste the link.  It works every time.

[Ed Lecuyer]

Quarterly Update from Amazon:

This is the quarterly notification to inform you that AmazonSmile has made a charitable donation to the charity you’ve selected, Wiscasset Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum, in the amount of $57.09 as a result of qualifying purchases made by you and other customers who have selected this charity.

Thanks to customers shopping at smile.amazon.com, or with AmazonSmile ON in the Amazon Shopping app, everyday purchases have generated over $266 million in donations to charities worldwide so far.

AmazonSmile's impact:
$977.38 to Wiscasset Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum*
$241,928,506.19 to all charities in the US
$266,896,659.48 to all charities worldwide
To track donations or change your charity, simply visit Your AmazonSmile Impact page.

Thanks to everyone who supports the WW&F in this manner!

[Graham Buxton]

That $57.09^* contribution from Amazon is nearly a 24% increase over the previous quarter! 




*(Edited to correct my $1 typo)

[John Kokas]

And if you are an Amazon Prime member you can still go over to smile.amazon and retain all your prime privileges.

[Bill Baskerville]

I just received a notice from Amazon that this quarter the WW&F Ry received $57.09 from those of us who use Amazon Smile and have selected the WW&F Ry as our designated charity.  A whole dollar less than last quarter, but still money in our coffers for things we would buy anyway.

[Ed Lecuyer]

The June 2021 donation from smile.amazon.com was just announced as $59.46.
Thanks to everyone who uses this FREE and EASY way to support the WW&F when shopping on Amazon.

[Mike Fox]

It was reported to us prior to May 22nd, which is when I entered the donation. It may be from April, unless they do it in quarters, I did not look that up. Either way, that amount went to the General Fund..

[Graham Buxton]

Ed is referring to the quarterly email from Amazon to AmazonSmile participants, mine arrived in my Inbox today a bit after Noon:

This is the quarterly notification to inform you that AmazonSmile has made a charitable donation to the charity you’ve selected,
Wiscasset Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum, in the amount of $59.46 as a result of qualifying purchases made by you and other customers who have selected this charity

[Bob Holmes]

May I gently suggest that this program is peanuts.  While it is well intentioned, it generates only a couple of hundred dollars per year, if I read it right.

Just to put it into perspective...