A “Charity Gift Card” is a gift card (or gift certificate, or virtual gift card) that is purchased by a “sender” or “purchaser” and given to a “recipient”. The sender or purchaser of the charity gift card buys the gift card from a gift card issuer (such as TisBest, GiveCard, CharityChoice, or JustGive to name a few) for a face amount (e.g., such as a $100 charity gift card). The sender or purchaser then designates who the recipient of the gift card is and the issuer delivers the charity card to the recipient.

The recipient can then designate a charity (or charities) to which they want the funds to be donated. Most charity gift card issuers have a number of charitable organizations to which the funds can be donated.

In many situations, the original purchaser of the charity gift card may qualify for a tax deduction.