Ordinary purchases on Amazon can help support the Fort Dodge Community Foundation and United Way.

The local United Way has been part of the giant online retailer’s “Smile” program for about a year now, said Program Coordinator Amy Bruno.

“Any nonprofit can sign up for it,” Bruno said. “And you can encourage people to designate your organization as the recipiant of those donations.”

Shoppers can go to smile.amazon .com to pick which charity will receive donations whenever they shop. Amazon donates 0.5 percent of each eligible purchase to the charity of your choice, Bruno said.

There’s no cost to shoppers this way, and the program doesn’t change the cost of any items.

The United Way hasn’t made a lot of money off the program, but it hasn’t cost anything to register as a charity either.

The AmazonSmile Foundation has almost one million charities available that shoppers can choose to designate to receive their donations. The company allows eligible charities that are 501(c)(3) organizations registered and in good standing as monitored by GuideStar USA.