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Stanford Business School Partners with Amazon.com on Nonprofit Innovation Award

March 15, 2005

STANFORD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS - The Center for Social Innovation at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and Amazon.com have joined efforts to discover and reward nonprofit organizations whose innovative approaches most effectively improve their communities or the world at large.

Amazon.com is now accepting applications from nonprofit organizations across the United States at its Amazon.com website. "Change starts with ideas," said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. "We are proud to honor those who channel their passion for innovation toward helping others."

The Center for Social Innovation is committed to educating a community of people who impact the world, who believe in the power of ideas, and who lead the process of social innovation in a wide range of areas. "When business visionaries turn their attention to philanthropy, remarkable breakthroughs can occur," said James A. Phills Jr., codirector of Stanford Business School's Center for Social Innovation. "We are delighted to assist Amazon in analyzing and identifying today's most innovative charitable organizations."

The Center for Social Innovation will organize and manage the award process. The recipient of the Amazon.com Nonprofit Innovation Award will receive a significant grant from Amazon.com, with the grant amount being determined by Amazon.com customers.

The process for selecting the winner of the Amazon.com Nonprofit Innovation Award has three phases:

  1. In conjunction with Amazon.com, members of the Center for Social Innovation's Stanford Business School faculty and MBA students specializing in Public Management will review applications based on established criteria. They will select a set of semifinalist organizations by May 2005.
  2. In June 2005, a panel will join Amazon.com to narrow the list to the 10 most effective and compelling programs. Panelists include sports legend and humanitarian Muhammad Ali; former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger; actress and National Ambassador to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF Téa Leoni; Lawrance M. Bernabo, one of Amazon.com's leading customer reviewers; Jeff Bradach, managing partner and cofounder of leading U.S. nonprofit consulting firm the Bridgespan Group; Phills of the Center for Social Innovation; and Bezos of Amazon.
  3. Amazon.com customers will vote with their pocketbooks. Beginning July 19, 2005, 10 nonprofit finalist organizations will be profiled in the Stanford Social Innovation Review and on the Amazon.com site, where customers and visitors will be able to make direct online contributions to their favorite organization or organizations. Donations will be accepted through September 30, 2005. The organization that receives the largest total contributions from Amazon customers will be awarded the 2005 Amazon.com Nonprofit Innovation Award, along with a matching grant from Amazon.com. The 2005 honoree will be announced in October 2005.

Applications for the Amazon.com Nonprofit Innovation Award will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

  • Need: the urgency, relevancy, and complexity of the problem the organization seeks to address
  • Gap analysis: clear evidence of a gap between the targeted problem and existing solutions
  • Innovation: the extraordinary inventiveness of the solution and how it breaks from traditional approaches
  • Results: clearly defined metrics and a measurable record of improvement for at least two years
  • Perpetuation: a well-developed plan for promoting continued innovation

Applications will be accepted through April 28, 2005. Complete details and an online application form are available at www.amazon.com/nonprofitinnovation.

About the Center for Social Innovation

The Stanford Graduate School of Business developed the Center for Social Innovation to foster innovative solutions to social problems by enhancing the leadership, management, and organizational capacity of individuals and institutions pursuing the creation of social and environmental value.

The Center dissolves traditional sector boundaries by bringing together nonprofit leaders, corporate executives, government officials, and philanthropists to discuss, debate, analyze, and take action to strengthen communities. The Center's core activities-research, teaching, and community engagement-focus on many thematic areas including corporate social responsibility, social entrepreneurship, environmental sustainability, philanthropy, education, and nonprofit management.

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers "Earth's Biggest Selection." Amazon.com seeks to be the world's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished, and used items in categories such as beauty, health and personal care, jewelry and watches, gourmet food, sports and outdoors, apparel and accessories, books, music, DVDs, electronics and office, toys and baby, and home and garden.

Amazon.com and its affiliates operate seven websites:

www.amazon.com
www.amazon.co.uk
www.amazon.de
www.amazon.fr
www.amazon.co.jp
www.amazon.ca
www.joyo.com

As used herein, "Amazon.com," "we," "our" and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.

Forward-Looking Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to potential future losses, significant amount of indebtedness, competition, management of growth, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion, fulfillment center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption, consumer trends, inventory, limited operating history, government regulation and taxation, fraud, and new business areas. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2003, and all subsequent filings.