You can now donate to a charity using Google Assistant
Donating money to a charity or nonprofit organization just got easier for people who use Google Assistant. The voice-activated program now responds to commands to "donate to a charity" or to "make a donation." Google launched the feature last month, according to 9to5Google.
Users can donate to 501(c)(3) public charities in the U.S. Once Google Assistant receives the command to make a donation, the user can name the organization of their choice if they haven't already, and the amount of their gift. Google prompts the user to finalize the donation and the money is then routed to Network for Good, a nonprofit that processes donations for charities.
"We hope that the simplicity and convenience of donating with the Google Assistant will encourage more people to give back to the causes they love," a Google spokesperson said in a statement to Mashable.
Google Assistant can only make donations if its payments feature is enabled by the user. 9to5Google reported that the new command works on several Android and Google Home speakers.
Google Assistant isn't the only AI-powered virtual assistant capable of making donations. Amazon gave its Alexa app the same feature in April 2018.
Now that both Amazon and Google have streamlined the donation process, supporting your favorite charities is only a voice command away.
Rebecca Ruiz is a Senior Reporter at Mashable. She frequently covers mental health, digital culture, and technology. Her areas of expertise include suicide prevention, screen use and mental health, parenting, youth well-being, and meditation and mindfulness. Rebecca's experience prior to Mashable includes working as a staff writer, reporter, and editor at NBC News Digital and as a staff writer at Forbes. Rebecca has a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and a masters degree from U.C. Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism.
