In January of 2013, we made the decision to streamline the way that Gift Card Giver operates.  This sleeker more efficient way of working the project has meant a little less communication here on the website, but behind the scenes, we are still here and cards continue to come in each and every week from people all over the country!  In short, keep them coming!  We love seeing them put to use helping others.  Below are some details about how we currently operate, which is almost entirely accomplished through volunteer efforts.  (YAY! for our wonderful Gift Card Giver friends)

How do I apply to receive cards or nominate someone in need?

If you know of a need from a person or organization, please answer the following questions and email to info@giftcardgiver.com

Name of person nominating:

Organization/Individual in need:

Address (where cards should be sent):

Email:

Phone:

What is the need of the organization or individual?

Name 2 kinds of gift cards that would help this organization***. (Ex: Starbucks, AMC Theatre)

What specifically will the gift card money be used for?

How much money in gift cards are you asking for (note: we usually give donations less than $500)?

Has Gift Card Giver donated cards to you this year?

Please give 2 references for your request and contact info, so we can research.

***We run out Target and Walmart cards the fastest, so if they are what you need, please also list a few other types of cards that could help you in case we are all out of Target or Walmart.

Once the completed forms are emailed to Gift Card Giver, we have a committee of people who check references, and look over the applications twice per year in June and December, we then determine if we have the needed gift cards, and if they are approved and we have what they need, we fill the need! (See below for more details)

How do I send Gift Cards to Gift Card Giver?

Same as before. Simply stick them in an envelope and drop them in the mail to Gift Card Giver, PO BOX 17920 Atlanta, GA 30316

What if I want to do more and share the idea of collecting cards with some of my friends, colleagues, neighbors, or relatives?

We love when people want to host events to share the idea behind Gift Card Giver.  This can be done in several ways:

• Email, tweet, or post on social media sites about the idea and encourage others to send in their cards.  Offer to send their cards with yours if possible.
• Request a Giving Jar and offer to be a Card Shark.
• Host a party where everyone gets “carded” at the door.  We can send you a party pack with tips and prizes and a collection jar, just email info@giftcardgiver.com with your party date and an address to send your kit.

Can I designate a person or non-profit to receive cards from my collection event?

In the past we allowed card event hosts to designate a charity to receive the funds they collected. We used our inventory like a bank and swapped dollar for dollar the cards that were collected at the event for cards their designated charity could use.  However, given what the needs of the designated charity were and the current stock of cards in the inventory some charities had to wait many months before enough cards were donated to fulfill the amount that was designated.  You may still designate cards, but before your event we discuss what cards the receiving person or charity can use and we suggest that you advertise their needs at your event.  Many guests at card events buy fully loaded cards just for your event and it helps to tell them what you need.  After the event, we total up all the cards collected and send to the designated charity the cards they said they could use.  If at that time we have additional cards in our inventory to those same locations, we’ll send them along to (up to 80% of the total collected).  However the final amount that your designated charity receives will depend on what is available at that time as well as how many cards collected at the event were to locations they can use.

Another option is to nominate your favorite charity or person you know who is in need and we will review their request and grant cards separately from your collection event.

How are gift cards granted?

In order to maximize our ability to send cards, we now grant cards twice per year at events we call Giving Days.  We hold these in June and December.  Card requests made between December and May are reviewed in early June and we send cards to the requests we can approve.  Requests from June-November are reviewed in early December and again we send what we can approve.

Occasionally an urgent or emergent need comes to our attention and we evaluate those requests on an individual basis and help if we have the cards at that time to support the need.

Thanks again for all your support of the project and your enthusiasm.  What we are continuing to do is the result of people like you being interested, inspired, and committed to the project.

Please join us for the third annual Crawfish Boil and Cornhole Tournament!

We will be hosting a southern tradition of great competition and good food. Registration includes at least 3 games of cornhole and a meal for both teammates.

This day is guaranteed to be fun for the whole family.

The tournament will begin promptly at 2:00 PM and dinner will be served starting at 5pm.

The tournament sponsors the work of Suffered Enough so besides having a great time, you’ll be supporting our work here at Gift Card Giver as well.

The National Retail Federation reports that gift cards have topped people’s wish lists for the past five years. So, you know you want them, and you know you get them each year.  How many? 2, 3, maybe even 10?

Yet, Consumer Reports also has found from surveying people that 27 percent still had cards they hadn’t used from the previous year! And, half of those people had 2 or 3 left over. Those unused cards totaled 8 billion dollars last year!

There are great needs in our communities and you have the opportunity to help us meet them. I am asking you to give your first gift card to us, so we can give them to people that really need them. Commit to the Gift Card Pledge now.

Take the pledge by following these steps:

• Tell your friends and family you’ve taken the pledge by posting this: “I pledge to give the first gift card I receive this Christmas to @GiftCardGiver” on Facebook and Twitter [#giftcardpledge]
• Share this pledge to your entire community and help us start a giving spirit this Christmas season. Ask them to join us and take the pledge too!
• When opening gifts, set aside your first gift card of the season and drop it in the mail to us at:

Gift Card Giver

PO Box 17920

Atlanta, GA 30316

We hope that this simple pledge will help us all remember that it’s not about what we get, but about being thankful for all that we’ve been given already! Gift Cards collected will do so much to help people in need. Be sure to check back here to our giving stories to see how they’re being used.

If you would like to contribute gift cards or make a monetary donation to Gift Card Giver so that we may help other organizations like Linda’s Kids, please contact us at info@giftcardgiver.com. You may send gift cards to us at: Gift Card Giver, P.O.Box 17920, Atlanta, Georgia 30316. We welcome all (used or unused) gift cards issued by any retail store with any remaining balance (even a penny!). Thank you.

Our mission is to help those in need by providing them with donated gift cards for use at various retailers across the country. We have a special place in our hearts for those who wish to use our donated gift cards to help others in need. That’s why we were thrilled when we received a request for gift cards from Linda Gianni. As the founder and chief operator of Linda’s Kids in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, she helps children in need who may otherwise get overlooked.

After talking with Linda about her organization’s needs, we sent her approximately $200 in assorted gift cards for use at retailers in the Milwaukee area. We thought you’d like to know a little more about Linda’s Kids:

Gift Card Giver: How did “Linda’s Kids” get its start?

Linda: I’ve been doing security work in the Milwaukee public schools for many years. Early on, I noticed that some kids would begin the school year without the items necessary to get off to a good start. Their families simply did not have the resources to pay for basic items like school supplies or adequate clothing. I felt I had to do something. I began collecting donations for them to try to meet their needs, and I’ve been doing it now for nearly twenty years. About five years ago, I officially formed “Linda’s Kids” as a not-for-profit organization.

GCG: How do you meet the kids’ needs?

Linda: Our organization collects and distributes necessities like personal hygiene products, school supplies, coats and other clothing, and even Christmas presents at holiday time.

GCG: What is the biggest need right now?

Linda: Right now, the kids I see need new socks and underwear. But the kids’ needs change over time. That’s why gift cards are great! They allow me to shop for appropriate items to meet a specific need at any given time.

GCG: What else would you like people to know about Linda’s Kids?

Linda: It is a small operation. I work a full-time job in addition to running Linda’s Kids. Also, I try to be as thrifty as possible with gift cards and other monetary donations. When I received over $200 in gift cards from Gift Card Giver, I decided to wait until the weekend to drive to an outlet mall where prices are cheaper. On behalf of the kids, I want to get the most out of those gift cards.

GCG: Anything else you would like to share?

Linda: I want to offer my sincere thanks to Gift Card Giver for providing me with gift cards, and to everyone else who has donated to Linda’s Kids. Please keep on giving!

If you would like to help Linda’s Kids directly, please contact Linda Gianni at lindaskidsinc@att.net.

If you would like to contribute gift cards or make a monetary donation to Gift Card Giver so that we may help other organizations like Linda’s Kids, please contact us at info@giftcardgiver.com. You may send gift cards to us at: Gift Card Giver, P.O.Box 17920, Atlanta, Georgia 30316. We welcome all (used or unused) gift cards issued by any retail store with any remaining balance (even a penny!). Thank you.

Her message was cryptic, landing directly in the founder of Gift Card Giver’s email inbox in all capital letters.  When it was forwarded to me, I wondered whether this might be some weird kind of spam.  There was a phone number though, and a simple plea for help.

Upon calling and leaving a voicemail message,  I wondered whether we’d ever hear back.  When my phone buzzed at 1:00 am, I was surprised that it woke me.  I don’t bother turning my notifications of work emails off at night because they rarely come outside of business hours let alone at a time where it might wake me, but also the 1 second vibration of my phone is hardly enough to rouse this overtired mother of two.  Regardless, on this night the short buzz of my phone did catch my attention and I squinted to see who was emailing me.  There they were again, but this time pages and pages of them.  Another tired mother, many states away, pouring her heart out to me in all capital letters, (unintentionally) shouting for help.

I learned from her message and from follow-up phone conversations that this mother was desperate for help for her struggling family.  Simply put, money was tight.  But there was more, she was sick with Chron’s Disease and could not work. Add to that their fourth and youngest child had just entered high school and was troubled, but it was clear he was deeply loved. She called him a gift, adopted at 3 days old from her brother who could not raise him.   The burden of raising enough money was all on her husband who was doing the best he could, but it wasn’t enough.  She had heard on the TV about a church that was giving away gift cards and when she searched the internet for help from gift cards she found out about us.  The email she sent to our founder was the first she’d ever written.

I sent her a list of our inventory and asked her to look through the list and let me know which cards would most help her family.  I had overestimated her ability to use the computer.  She called back and left me a message, saying she couldn’t open the attachments I had sent and could I please just pick out some cards for them.  I got goosebumps when she casually listed a couple businesses that I knew we had cards for and had not been able to use because they were small companies with locations isolated in a few states.  It was as if those cards were waiting for their family.

I taped up the package this morning and am happy to know that it will arrive in a few days and bring some hope to this family.  You might feel like the cards you have can’t be useful because they are to smaller local grocery store chains, restaurants and gas stations.  I know how thankful this family will be that we had cards that will help them put food on the table and gas in the car, and maybe even enjoy a dinner out together.

Keep sending us your cards, we never tire of seeing them matched to needs like this.

The Austin Christian Social Hub held it’s first card party back in the early part of summer.  They collected cards and designated that the money they raised be used to help the Austin chapter of Mobile Loaves & Fishes.  It was a huge success and we had the privilege of assembling a stack of cards worth $490 to be used in support of the mission of Mobile Loaves & Fish in serving the homeless and impoverished people in Austin.

We been able to give to over 50 individuals and organizations in the past year alone, but it still amazes us when we can see money that would typically be unused, floating in people’s junk drawers and purses, brought together to achieve something good and worthwhile.

Please consider helping us, by having a card party or becoming a card shark, or simply sharing our message with your friends on Facebook or Twitter.  We couldn’t do all this without you.

Recently, a family in Atlanta endured an unthinkable situation. After struggling with their landlord for months about small repairs that were needed around the house they were renting, the problems in the house got decidedly worse and a fire at the power box left the mother and her 11 children without electricity.

Taking matters into her own hands, the mother bought a generator and advised the landlord that she would not be paying rent until the necessary repairs were made.  The landlord began to pursue legal action to evict the family for not paying rent.  When it was clear that the mother was also interested in taking legal action in return to hold the landlord responsible the truth finally emerged that the so-called landlord actually did not even own the property and had seemingly vanished taking along the rent the family had paid.

The family was devastated and recovery from the situation looked impossible.  The mother no longer had a home or hope of getting her money back and to make matters worse there was talk of having to put the kids into foster homes until things were settled.

Thankfully some caring folks stepped in and were able to get the mother a new place to live just in time for school to start.  Gift Card Giver had the privilege of providing gift cards to help the kids get some back-to-school clothes and get some supplies for the new home.  Cards for Belk, Macy’s,
Home Depot, Lowe’s, New York & Company, Guess, Bed Bath & Beyond, and J C Penney will provide the family with some basics as they get re-established and begin to recover from the events of the past few months.

It is situations just like this that inspired the idea of Gift Card Giver.  Being able to respond to people who are in need with gift cards that otherwise would have gone unused is just incredible, and we couldn’t do it without the donations of gift cards.  Thanks to all of you who are sending in cards and are sharing our story to help get the word out about the work we are doing.

One of the categories of gift cards that tends to pile up is the clothing store cards.   Sure the large department store cards are easy to use, but what about $10 to Bath and Body Works or H&M?

The folks at We Will Serve contacted us and explained how they help parents provide clothing and essentials to their children when even the basic necessities of life are difficult to obtain.  The ministry was born when the founders were in a time of incredible financial strain themselves.  Despite having liquidated most of their savings, mom and co-founder, Jo Sexton was on Craigslist posting in the freebie section about some clothes their children had outgrown. She was hoping not to sell them but to bless someone else with whatever they had to give; even when money was tight.  She stumbled upon the wanted section of Craigslist and was inspired by a post there from a mother hoping to find things to put under the Christmas tree.  Jo decided to become a matchmaker of sorts and scoured the freebie section in order to help this stranger, nabbing anything listed there that would fill the need. She then went home to home to obtain the items and had the privilege of contacting the mother from the wanted section telling her what she had for her.   From there, the project has grown to be an warehouse of items that families can shop in when buying the things they need just isn’t possible. It was great to be able to send cards that we know will be used to buy essentials to stock the “boutique” that they make available to the people they serve.

No, this isn’t what you might be thinking.  Gift Card Giver’s new mission isn’t to fund raise by beating the house in Vegas.  Our mission is to do more with the excess that there is in this country on unused gift cards. We want to make it easier for people to get those cards in our hands so that we can put them in the hands of people in need.

We need friends (like you) to volunteer to be a “Card Shark.” We’ve designed these nifty giving jars and have already been dreaming of all the places our card sharks can use them:  at your office on your desk or in a break room, at your local coffee shop, even at your next family gathering.  The possibilities are endless and for people who might have cards to give, this makes the process as easy as dropping the card in the jar.

You take it from there.  Card Sharks can monitor their jars and send in stacks of cards as the jars fill.  Same address as always: Gift Card Giver P.O. Box 17920, Atlanta GA 30316.

If you’re in, suggested donations to “play” are $10 to cover our shipping costs.  Just email info@giftcardgiver.com with your address and we’ll mail you a giving jar with all the details.