One of the core values of Michelle is Money Hungry is empathy. An additional core value is to help others through designing personal finance content that serves. This could mean writing a blog post that leans into a financial topic that we don’t often talk about or recording a podcast episode that explores financial conversations that aren’t being discussed often enough. Empathy in personal finance also includes actively listening to people as they share their financial stories without judgement. Tasking myself with trying to connect, find and share solutions to people’s financial questions has been a true eyeopener. I’ve learned a lot about myself along the way.
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How Fintech Can Tap Into Empathy
Some things that I’ve learned in my 10 years of creating personal finance content. That financial a baseline of impactful financial knowledge shouldn’t be assumed. That adult life is so hectic it’s easy to lose track of time and look up one day to realize that several years have passed as you’ve been grinding away. Or that building habits such as saving, investing and actively educating yourself about money isn’t as straightforward to some people as it is for others. That’s why I love the intersection between fintech and money. It’s amazing to see the different ideas and solutions being dreamed up and created by teams across the world and I had the good fortune to try out a new solution recently.
How to Support the Causes You Care About
Having lived both in the United States and abroad, I’ve observed that Americans seem to donate a lot more often to the causes that they believe in. Now this altruism could be the direct result of wanting the feeling of directly impacting a community or space that people want to be of service to. An awareness that organizations might not be funded as much as we think they should be. Or, donating to a beloved cause that bridges the gap between local, state and Federal services. But donating often enough and in a way that feels impactful can feel like a daunting task, especially when juggling a billion other things at the same time. So when I was given the opportunity to try out a new FinTech solution that addresses the friction and tension of how to support the causes you care about in a more effortless way, I was so excited.
CauseCard
I do want to disclose that while CauseCard was under embargo, I was reached out to by the team to test it out. I was sent a pre-loaded debit card with $150 bucks and given the task of testing out the experience. I don’t want to talk to long about the mechanics of the experience. Instead, I want to share how it made me feel to know there is a financial tool that helps users address the very real pain point of scaling charitable contributions effortlessly and supporting financially the causes that I care about.
How Does It Work?
First, you download the app. As you would expect, you’ll go through a series of prompts to set up your account. The unique part of this process is choosing the organization or organizations that you would like contributions to be sent to.
There are so many causes that users can choose to support. I absolutely loved this! Here are a few examples:
- Planned Parenthood
- Wounded Warrior Project
- Clean Water projects
What I appreciate is that there is a wide range of organizations that users can support.
Additional Important Details
There are a few more important details that I think potential users should consider.
- CauseCard is FDIC insured via Evolve Bank and Trust. For me, having accounts FDIC insured
- This reassures me that my funds are protected in the event that something goes wrong.
- Evolve Band and Trust has been operating for 95 years. I’m looking at the longevity in business.
- 100% of allocated funds are sent to chosen organizations via CauseCards’ partner: ShoppingGives.
Finally, I had a really positive interaction with the team member who was helping me out with setting up my test account. You would think that would be a normal thing, honestly that’s not the case. I’ve been very fortunate when working with organizations and brands that I’ve been treated with respect and kindness. I’ve also had experiences where team members didn’t match what I expected given the vibes that they putting out about their brand.
This was not the case with my CauseCard team interaction. It was so positive and nice. I really enjoyed the interactions as I sent several emails because I had questions. Then we popped on a Zoom. It’s my view that the CauseCard team truly cares about making a difference and isn’t a cynical play on people’s heartstrings.
Be the Change
I feel like a hippy saying this but I kind of am. The organizations that we care about need so much support.
- Time-Share your time and volunteer whenever possible.
- Social shoutouts-Tell people about your favorite organizations. One of my favorites here in my hometown of Denver is the S.A.M.E. Cafe-So All May Eat. It’s a cafe where people pay what they can. If they’re unable to pay, that’s fine too. When I eat at the cafe I donate enough to pay for my meal and someone else’s. I share this organization as often as I can and even recorded a podcast episode several years ago with one of the founders.
- Resources-Connect these organizations with the resources that they need to be successful.
Sometimes I’m overwhelmed by how much I care about “the state of things.” However, I do believe that one person can make a big difference and that participating in sustainable actions scale overtime. I think that using a tool like CauseCard is a great way to make a difference. I’m not sure how I got on their radar, but I’m thrilled that they felt like my ethos matched theirs.
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