Amazon, under fire for charity record, touts nonprofit support

Amazon.com recently got rapped by the online magazine Slate, which accused the online retailer of having a dismal record of corporate giving. Now it appears Amazon is doing some damage control. The company just updated its "Amazon Giving" page, touting its support for nonprofit author and publisher groups and charitable efforts by Amazon employees.

Amazon lists its support for The Clarion West Writers Workshop, the PEN American Center and 826 Seattle, a writing center devoted to students age 6 to 18. The company talks about giving homepage space to the American Red Cross during disasters, which it says has resulted in customer contributions of $35 million since 2001. Amazon also highlights community efforts by individual groups of employees in Seattle, Arizona, West Virginia, and Kansas.

Amazon spokeswoman Patty Smith said the Amazon Giving page was updated last week with information about the support for author and publisher groups and the individual employee efforts. She said the new information was not in response to the Slate article but part of Amazon's efforts to continually update its information. Amazon.com now highlights the Amazon Giving page alonside its official press releases.

Is it enough to quell the critics? Slate certainly didn't hold back on the online retail giant, saying "there are lemonade stands that donate more to charity."

Amazon's bad PR over its philanthropic efforts is all the more puzzling because its board includes Patricia Stonesifer, former CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world's biggest philanthropy.

READ MORE and COMMENT, ... http://link.gs/w0W0