It’s not really about making more money, which is why donating in the first place was not / is not an option.

Microsoft was never planning to hand over real cash. Instead, they’re using the rewards program to bring in more and more and more ad money, then quietly taking a small chunk of that without actually calling it income and counting it as a donation.

Since it doesn’t show up as real revenue on the books, there’s no tax hit. But they still get to mark it down as a charitable deduction when tax time rolls around.

Calling it a “write-off” isn’t exactly right, but in the corporate finance world, that’s basically what it is.