This Give TuesdayYou may want to take advantage of some of your rewards point balances to help your favorite causes and organizations.
For a little history, Giving Tuesday was established in 2012 as a global generosity movement aimed at helping inspire people to do good in their communities and around the world. Many people use Giving Tuesday as a day to donate to causes they care about (and possibly earn bonus points and miles). Others use it as a day to volunteer and donate their time, or as a reminder to make someone smile and show some light to the world.
Another way to contribute this Giving Tuesday is by donating your credit card rewards. If your budget is tight and your points are unused, putting them toward donations may be a good option for you.
Related: Earn up to 75,000 Air Canada Aeroplan points by donating to Miles4Migrants
Donate points with American Express
American Express Membership Rewards has been the perennial favorite when it comes to using points for charities. Through a long partnership with JustGivingAmex cardholders can donate Membership Rewards points at 0.7 cents each to more than 1.5 million U.S. nonprofit organizations.
Even better, the portal allows you to donate points for all or part of the donation amount without requiring a specific increase. Simply choose your charity and your donation amount, then enter how many points you want to use at checkout.
It is not the highest value option out there. However, if you have a ton of points and are wondering what good you can do with them, this might be the route for you.
Related: What is the best American Express credit card for you?
Donate points with Chase
Chase has a redemption option called Pay yourself which allows people to redeem their Ultimate Rewards Points to refund recent purchases. You’ll get a value of 1 cent per point for most purchases, but sometimes you’ll see promotions for specific types of purchases (in this case, select charities) that can make your points go further.
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For example, from now until the end of the year, the holders of the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Unlimited Freedom® They can redeem their points for 1.25 cents each in donations to select charities. Chase Sapphire Reserve® Cardholders can get an even better rate of 1.5 cents per point. Applicable charities include:
- American Red Cross
- Equal Justice Initiative
- Feeding America
- GLSEN
- Habitat for humanity
- International Medical Corps
- International Rescue Committee
- Leadership Conference Education Fund
- Make a wish America
- NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund
- National Urban League
- Advocates for equality in the workplace
- Sage
- Thurgood Marshall College Fund
- United Black College Fund
- UNICEF United States
- United Way
- World Central Kitchen
To redeem points this way, simply make a donation directly to the nonprofit and wait for the transaction to appear in your account. Next, log into your Ultimate Rewards account and navigate to the Pay Yourself Back page, where you can redeem points for a statement credit to cover the transaction.
Related: No annual fee credit cards that earn transferable points
Donate points with Citi
If you have excess Thank you pointsCiti has several Charity Partner Redemption Options. These nonprofit organizations include:
- American Red Cross Disaster Relief
- American Red Cross International Services
- ASPCA
- No child is hungry
- SmileTrain
- Susan G. Komen
- UNICEF United States
- USO
- World Central Kitchen
Each ThankYou point redeemed this way is worth 1 cent. You must choose between donations of $10 (1,000 points), $25 (2,500 points), $50 (5,000 points), and $100 (10,000 points). These set thresholds limit your options, but you can always make multiple donations if you want to give more.
Related: How to Donate Airline and Hotel Points and Miles to Charities
In a nutshell
These credit card associations make it easy to donate using your points.
Amex takes the crown when it comes to the wide variety of organizations you can donate to, but it also offers the lowest value for your points (0.7 cents each). Citi cardholders who earn ThankYou points can get 1 cent better value per point. And for a limited time, Chase cardholders can earn up to 1.5 cents per point on charitable donations, assuming they want to support the organizations currently available through the Pay with Points feature.
Hopefully, all card issuers will continue to expand these options and provide even more flexibility when donating points in the future.
Related: The Best Credit Cards to Maximize Your Nonprofit Giving
