A Nonprofit Executive Director Could Not Get a Credit Card for Her Organization

This article is based on an interview with Gabrielle Magid by Charity Charge             

Stronger Than Stigma has a mission: to empower, inspire, and support those struggling with mental health issues. They also provide services and support for the people who care about them. They provide a variety of resources and programs designed to celebrate mental well-being and make it easier for those in need to ask for help.

Gabrielle Tells her Story

I'm very proud of the work that we've done. For instance, we did a comedy tour called "Nobody's Happy Comedy Tour." We went up and down the East Coast promoting comedy, sharing stories, supporting each other and raising money in a way that we've never been able to do before. We recently received our first grant. The grantor is well respected in Jacksonville, so now that her name is associated with ours, it's opened so many doors. I'm very grateful.  

While all of these financial wins were happening, I still couldn't get our bank to provide our nonprofit with a credit card. I kept filling out applications and kept getting denied. I even offered my personal credit guarantee, and my credit rating is good, but the banks still would not issue a card to our nonprofit! I don't know why.  

I was forced to use a debit card, which isn't responsible risk management. I'm nervous that somebody's going to read the password or the chip isn't going to be protective enough. Then all our hard work will be out of the door.   And I've had to work. A start-up like ours takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears. I'm a 27-year old, so some look at me as too young. Nobody hands you money. You continually have to prove yourself.  

Finding Charity Charge and meeting Stephen Garten, who is a great ambassador for the work, was awesome. It was exactly what I needed. I'd already just given up and had begun to charge nonprofit purchases to my personal card and then reimburse myself-another very poor risk management practice. And co-mingling my personal purchases with our nonprofit's just isn't an acceptable solution.  I knew this, but until Charity Charge, what could I do?

Now, I have the protection and peace of mind I was seeking.  For example, with my Charity Charge Mastercard if a vendor isn't reputable, I can contest it and the credit card company stands behind me. I can stop worrying about our bank account getting hacked. I can keep a strict wall between my expenses and Stronger Than Stigma's.  It's a great feeling of relief and security.

That's my story. I'm very grateful for Charity Charge for nonprofits and glad that your company is thriving.  I'm excited to start charging and it will be great to get that 30-day wiggle room between essential purchases and payment,  And no personal guarantee, credit check or credit card fees! Amazing! I'm grateful to be part of the Charity Charge family.

Charity Charge also provides Charity Charge cards to individuals or businesses that wish to have their credit card benefits convert to a cash donation to the nonprofit of their choice.