Lately, I’ve found myself frequently wishing I could donate to causes I’m passionate about. Perhaps this is a part of growing up — realizing that not only are there pressing issues all around us, but that it’s up to each one of us to do our part to help.
But as a broke 20-something, it’s not realistic for me to donate money right now. Instead, I donate my time by volunteering. However, that isn’t always a possibility either, especially for college students who are busy with school and work.
This is why I’m glad that about a year ago, I stumbled upon two apps that donate money to charity when people take walks, go for jogs, or go biking.
The way it works is that you choose a charity to donate to and start your walk. Then, depending on how many miles you’ve walked (or jogged or biked), the app donates a certain amount of money to the charity you chose.
What I love about this concept is that you can easily fit it into your daily routine. Perhaps you walk a substantial amount from your apartment to the train station every day. Just turn on the app and earn money for a good cause without doing any extra work.
Or maybe you’ve been meaning to go for a quick jog around the block every morning. Now you have a stronger incentive — you’ll be helping those in need while improving your own health.
Here are the two free apps I use that allow me to turn every walk I take into a walk for charity:
1. Charity Miles
Who benefits? This app donates to organizations it considers the most innovative and impactful in their fields. You can choose from 40 charities, including the ASPCA, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and the National Park Foundation.
How much is donated? For each mile you walk or run, you earn 25 cents for your chosen charity. For each mile you bike, you earn 10 cents.
Cool features: A unique aspect of this app is that anyone can join or create a team. There are teams for a variety of different people, from Harry Potter fans to people who are raising money to help end cancer. Each team has a leader-board section that ranks individual members in terms of how many miles they’ve accumulated. This is great because it allows people to connect based on their interests while encouraging a bit of competition.
One of my favorite features is that on my private profile, among other statistics, I can see graphs of my daily, monthly, and yearly walking history. I find this useful when I'm on a health kick, because having a visual representation of how much I’ve walked makes it easier to keep track of my exercise and set goals for the future.
Lastly, you can set up reminders so the app gives you notifications when it’s time to walk.
2. ResQwalk
Who benefits? This app donates to animal welfare organizations, including rescues and shelters, regardless of their size. I love the app because it allows me to support smaller shelters that don’t receive as many donations as well-known organizations.
How much is donated? Each mile you walk earns about 20 cents.
Cool features: ResQwalk’s homepage is basically a social media feed. Each time someone finishes a session (as long as they’ve uploaded a picture from their walk), a post is created. This way, people can see the distances others are walking, which shelters they’re supporting, and the beautiful scenery or cute animals they’ve come across along the way. Furthermore, anyone can like and comment on these posts. I find that this feature creates a sense of community and helps motivate me to walk more often.
Another thing that helps motivate more frequent walking is the weekly goal feature. You can set your own goal (the default is 6 miles per week), and it’ll always display what percent of the goal you’ve completed so far.
Finally, there’s a leader-board section that ranks organizations based on how many miles people have walked for them this month. This is useful if you’re curious about which organizations are the most popular, which could use some more support, and where your favorites are ranked.
