How to donate points, miles, and credit card rewards to charity

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• Most hotel, airline, and credit card loyalty programs offer you the ability to donate your rewards directly to charity.
• Some credit cards, like the Charity Charge World Mastercard, actually raise money for nonprofits instead of giving you rewards.
• If you make a cash donation, consider using a card that gives you an above-average return on your spending, like the Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express.

In addition to helping you book travel and letting you earn cash back, the credit card points and miles you earn from everyday spending can be used to make a positive social impact. You can donate many of them directly to reputable charities, and some co-branded credit cards even raise money directly for charity in lieu of racking up personal rewards.

Here's how to turn your credit card spending into a force for social good.

Donate your points to charity

Most hotel, airline, and credit card rewards programs allow you to donate your cash back, points, and miles directly to a number of well-respected nonprofits. All you have to do is log into a particular account and select a charity.

The following brands have whole pages devoted to their reward donation platforms:

• American Airlines — The airline lets you donate miles to Miles for Our Social Good, Miles for Our Well-Being, and Miles for Our Heroes
• American Express — You can donate Amex Membership Rewards points to more than 1.5 million US charities through JustGiving
• Hilton — Create a PointWorthy account and link it to your Hilton account, then you donate your Hilton points to thousands of charities.
• JetBlue — You can donate TrueBlue points to charities including the American Red Cross and Make-A-Wish.
• United Airlines — United partners with the Americares Foundation, Guide Dogs of America, and dozens of other charities.

You may be wondering exactly how the rewards you donate translate into charitable donations, and it varies depending on the program and the organization. For some charities, your points or miles are using toward travel, while in other cases, like with Amex, your points are given a value in cash and then a cash donation is made to the charity. 

Even if the program you have points with doesn't tout any charity partners on its website, it never hurts to call and see if it's possible to donate any of your points to charity.

As a bonus, most rewards programs count charitable donations as account activity. So if you have any points in danger of expiring, making a small donation is a great way to reset the clock and make the world a better place.

Credit cards that give to charity

In the same way the The World Of Hyatt Credit Card and the American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp® - Product Name Only direct all your rewards into the World of Hyatt and American AAdvantage programs, respectively, there are credit cards that turn the rewards of your everyday spending directly into charitable contributions.

The most flexible of these is the Charity Charge World Mastercard, which allows your spending to benefit up to three nonprofit partners as a time. The card rewards them with 1% cash back on every purchase, which counts as a tax-deductible donation.

For credit card users passionate about animal rights, Bank of America's World Wildlife Fund credit card donates up to 3% cash back of every purchase directly to the nonprofit.

The best credit cards for earning rewards on your donations

Many credit cards offer bonus points for your spending in categories like dining out or office supplies. However, there is one card that gives impressive points bonuses when you use them to donate to charity.

With the U.S. Bank FlexPerks Travel Rewards Visa Signature Card, you'll earn 2 points for every dollar spent on donations. This equated to about 3 cents in travel for every dollar you donate to charity, so the rewards for your good deeds are pretty sweet.

If you want a card that's great in general, and not just for making charitable donations, consider the The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express. It's one of the best business credit cards for freelancers and small business owners. It earns a stellar 2 Membership Reward points for every dollar spent, regardless of purchase category (up to $50,000 per calendar year, then 1x points), and there's no annual fee. This is a great card to use for your business all year, and then cap the final quarter off with a last-minute donation to charity if you can work it into your budget. Maybe that last gift in spending will help you qualify for a free flight or hotel stay.

If you can't qualify for a business credit card, the Chase Freedom Unlimited® is a good option, as it earns 1.5% cash back on most purchases (the Freedom Unlimited also recently started offering bonus cash back on eligible travel and drugstore purchases). Plus, if you also have a Chase card that earns Ultimate Rewards points, like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, you can effectively earn points instead of cash back with the Freedom Unlimited, so you'd be getting 1.5 points per dollar on your charitable spending.