Is PennyLoafer right for me?
PennyLoafer helps you make an impact, while taking the friction out of giving. There are plenty of ways to give, but it can be overwhelming knowing where to start. Our goal is to make it fun and easy. If you feel like your giving is sporadic, reactive or less than you can afford, despite caring deeply about issues – you’re in the right place! We’ll provide you with an ongoing giving strategy you can feel good about.
What happens when I support a cause?
For each cause, we’ve curated a collection of great nonprofits that address the given problem from different angles, with an intentional focus on smaller, grassroots organizations. When you subscribe to a cause, your money is directed to one or more nonprofits in that collection each month along with that of other like-minded donors, allowing for economies of scale and, ultimately, a larger impact. You’ll learn about the impact of your giving and other ways to stay engaged in the cause via one monthly newsletter. For more details, check out this quick blog post on what you get as a donor.
Think of donating to a cause like investing in a mutual fund. A mutual fund pools the money of many investors and invests it in a portfolio of stocks, bonds and other assets; it’s managed by professional money managers who seek to maximize investors’ returns. Similarly, you join a host of other donors contributing to a given cause on PennyLoafer; we manage the portfolio of vetted nonprofits and seek to maximize the impact of your money — your “return on investment”.
Are my donations tax deductible?
Yes. PennyLoafer partners with Charityvest, Inc., a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt public charity, to ensure your donations to causes are tax deductible. To learn more about how we calculate what’s tax deductible, click here.
How do PennyLoafer gift cards work?
Gift cards are one-time purchases (not recurring). The recipient can use the gift card towards setting up a monthly donation to a cause on PennyLoafer, or opt for a one-time donation to a cause. Gift cards are customized and sent to you via email within 24 hrs of purchase, so you can decide how and when you share the love! See what to expect here.
How do I redeem my PennyLoafer gift card?
If you’d like to put the gift card towards a monthly donation to a cause, simply go through the normal checkout flow of choosing a cause and monthly donation amount. At checkout, enter your unique coupon code. If your checkout amount is less than the gift card, the balance will be applied to monthly renewals until it’s exhausted.
If you would prefer to not set up a recurring donation with the gift card, simply email [email protected] and we can do a one time donation to a cause of your choosing.
Is PennyLoafer secure?
Your security is very important to us. All donation processing is handled by our trusted payment provider, Stripe, that uses best-in-class security tools and practices to maintain a high level of security. You can read more about security at Stripe here.
How does PennyLoafer select the nonprofits in each cause?
With over 1.33 million 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofits operating in the U.S., choosing which nonprofits to support can be hard. At PennyLoafer, we love research. We use a variety of tools and websites that help aggregate information, including the leading evidence-based charity evaluators, various charity rating and endorsement sites, and our own in-house digging, to find smaller, grassroots organizations that are doing important work, but may not have the capacity yet to be recognized by these sites. We place an emphasis on these smaller organizations as we believe your money can make a bigger difference at this level. Our current process also includes reviewing 990 financials, charity websites, year end, impact reports and any other relevant information found on the web. PennyLoafer appreciates that no one knows with 100% certainty what works best; that’s why we utilize diverse strategies to find nonprofits we love and why you’ll support a wide variety of organizations and approaches to a given cause.
PennyLoafer is committed to staying transparent and humble with our selections. We’ll post information on each nonprofit chosen, and we never take any sort of compensation from charities. We encourage people to push back or suggest nonprofits we may not have found – we don’t claim to have perfect information and are always striving to learn more and do better.
I’m a nonprofit, how can I be considered?
If you work for a nonprofit you’d like us to consider for funding, please feel free to email us at [email protected].
Does PennyLoafer take a portion of my donation?
No. PennyLoafer does not take any percentage of your donation. We have a 0% platform fee, so each month 100% of your donation is passed on to the nonprofit(s), minus the industry-standard payment processing fees that occur basically anytime you swipe your card. Currently our payment processing is powered by Stripe, and their fees are 2.9% + 30 cents (that fee amount all goes to Stripe; PennyLoafer does not take a portion).
How does PennyLoafer make money?
PennyLoafer is a social good venture that relies on a Pay What You Wish model. If you’d like, you can leave an optional monthly tip for PennyLoafer at check out to help cover our operating expenses. This money will help us grow and improve the experience! Please note: the tip is not tax deductible (only your donations to causes will be tax deductible) and you can change the tip amount at any time in your account. We appreciate your generosity!
Am I locked into my subscription?
Nope. You can cancel your subscription at any time. But we hope you’ll stay!
Can I change my monthly donation amount?
Yes, you can change your monthly donation amount at any time by logging into your PennyLoafer account.
How do I cancel my subscription?
Don’t go! But also, we understand things change. Simply log into your PennyLoafer account to cancel your subscription. If you have any feedback for us, we’d love to hear it.
Where am I?
Where are any of us?