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Frequently Asked Questions

Great question! We are a nonprofit foundation and we are absolutely committed to pushing as much money to charity as possible. We work for you, on behalf of you so you can do the great things you set out to do. We have been working in nonprofit for 25+ years, and we started Charity On Top eight years ago, so we get it, and we know how hard the work is. We are making it easier for you to get donations and support.

Learn more about us on this page.

— Interested to know how we receive the funds that are then distributed to you? https://www.charityontop.org/learn.php

— Interested to buy some Charity On Top cards for your friends and family? https://www.charityontop.org/shop.php

It's easy! Follow these steps.

  1. Type the card number in the box on the Redeem page and click the + or press ENTER.
  2. See your balance displayed. Click Redeem Now.
  3. On the Charities page, search for anything that interests you.
  4. Found a charity you like? Click Use Gift Card. You're done!

Nope! Charity On Top gift cards are all about charity! Some kind person made a donation and gave you the gift card so that you can pick which charity will receive the donation. Wow, that's quite a gift! Redeem NOW

No, under no circumstances will we share or sell your information with anyone. During the redemption process, the redeemer has the opportunity to decide if they want to share their own information with the charity, but that is entirely voluntary.

We guarantee you'll be happy with your gift card. If you're not, we'll re-print and re-ship at our expense.

We prefer to use 100% biodegradable cards. To ensure maximum image saturation and richness, UltraCard® Premium cards may be substituted.

We come from charity and actually have a GREAT story! Click here to learn more about us!

YES! You can redeem your gift card for as many charities as you would like, provided you don't exceed the face value of the card and your minimum donation to each charity is at least $5. When you redeem your card, pick your first charity and choose an amount to give them, then go on to select the next charity, and so on.

We really loved mailing checks on Fun(d)ay Mondays, but now every day is payday for charities! Charities can pop in anytime to claim their funds at charityontop.org/payments/welcome/. They can choose paperless ACH or a traditional check by mail. We will notify charities three times that we have funds for them to collect, making our best attempt each time, of course. Funds that remain unclaimed will be returned to Charity On Top's general donation fund and marked as unclaimed.

We LOVE charities, and we can proudly say that to ensure charities get what they need to fulfill their missions, we have the LOWEST FEES! Charities receive the face value of the original gift card less a nominal percentage to cover our credit card processing, distribution and administrative fees. What’s that percentage, you ask? It does depend on a couple of things. When Charity On Top gift cards are purchased on our website or from us directly, donors have the opportunity to donate 3.75% extra so the charities receive 100% of the face value of the gift cards. About 98% of those donors do, which is nice! The extra is tax-deductible and appreciated. If they do not, then we hold onto that 3.75% and the charities receive 96.25% of the face value of the gift cards. When the gift cards were distributed by a third or fourth party (like Amazon, Fetch or Starfish), each party holds onto a percentage and we send 85% of the face value of the gift cards to the chosen charities, even if it leaves us with a tiny bit or nothing. Getting as much as possible to the charities is the point!

No, they never expire. We WANT people to redeem their gift cards so charities can get more of their good work done. If you buy a digital card, we will send you a reminder periodically to nudge your recipient to redeem their card if it has sat in their back pocket too long. If you buy our physical cards, we recommend keeping a written list of the people you send the cards to and the corresponding numbers on the back of the cards.

If you've recently received a check from us, no need to worry about embarking on a registration journey. You can deposit that check without any fuss.

However, if you've received a postcard from us announcing our new charity payments portal, it's a different story. To start receiving payments on our website, you'll need to register here on our website to get that rolling.

Our list of 1.8 million charities is updated each week and only reflects those organizations in good standing with the IRS.

All charities are included! If an organization qualifies to be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and maintains its good standing, it's part of the Charity On Top family. At the moment it's 1.8 million charities. That's a big family!

No, the IRS will only allow us to provide tax-deductible receipts to the buyer of the gift cards. If you need proof that you redeemed your gift card, we encourage you to take a screen shot of the final redemption screen and save it as a JPEG. If you forgot to grab proof, chat with us and have the gift card # handy, and we can send along a proof of redemption.

When you buy a Charity On Top gift card you are making a donation to Charity On Top Foundation, so we will send you a tax-deductible receipt and a big thank you!

We gotcha covered here. No problem.

  1. Type the card number in the box on the Redeem page and click the + or press ENTER.
  2. See your balance displayed. Click Redeem Now.
  3. On the Charities page, search for anything that interests you.
  4. Found a charity you like? Click Use Gift Card. You're done!

One of our main philosophies of Charity On Top is to create an equal and level playing field for all charities and that is why we don’t have featured charities or list our personal favorites. EVERY charity in good standing deserves to have a chance at your support. And the smallest of charities can be working just as hard as larger ones, so we decided we need to support them all! So happy charity shopping. We KNOW you will find one charity...or 1,799,999 of them to love!

Every Charity On Top gift card comes with a gift card carrier, very similar to the ones you see hanging in the grocery stores. They have super easy redemption instructions right on the front of the carrier and the card value and the card number show clearly through the back of the carrier. Our carriers come in your choice of red standard, blue standard, holiday red, holiday blue and champagne. Shoppe Now.

Nope. They can easily redeem their card in less than 60 seconds without sharing an account or any personal information.