Would you like to do something worthwhile with those cash back and reward points that you’re earning on your rebate credit cards? Many major non-profit organizations would be delighted to help you do that. By making an affinity credit card your major credit card, you can donate hundreds of dollars to your favorite charity – just by using your credit card the way that you normally would.
Affinity credit cards have been around since the 1980s, but they’ve really taken off in the last four to five years. Among the non-profit organizations that have teamed up with major credit card issuers to offer affinity cards are the American Red Cross, the Humane Society of the United States and the Cancer Society. Add in the National Audubon Society and a wide variety of local police organizations, alumni associations, homeless shelters and labor unions.
Affinity cards, like co-branded cards, have both the credit card logo and the emblem of the charity that benefits when you use it on the front. Most affinity cards, however, don’t offer special perks to the user, unless you count the knowledge that you’re supporting a worthy cause that’s...