Donors choose a category (such as Meals).
Gift cards are automatically sent to the beneficiary on file once approved. A beneficiary's first gift card is subject to an initial approval period that can take up to 1 business day — so the claim email may not arrive immediately after the purchase. All subsequent gift card purchases after that are sent automatically to the beneficiary at the time of purchase, with no additional delay.
The beneficiary then receives an email with a link to claim their gift card credit.
They're then given a choice of different vendors to choose from within that category. Once a vendor is selected and the gift card is claimed, the vendor choice is final and cannot be changed. If a beneficiary receives multiple gift cards in the same category, they can choose a different vendor for each one, but each individual card is locked to its chosen vendor once claimed. The donor's chosen category also cannot be changed.
Categories include:
Meals (GrubHub, DoorDash, UberEats, and Instacart)
Transportation (American Airlines, AirBnB, Delta, Hotels.com, and Southwest)
Pet Care (Chewy and Petco)
Inside the House (Lowes, Home Depot, Amazon, and Target)
Outside the House (Lowes and Home Depot)
Other (Walgreens, CVS, Amazon, and Target)
This allows flexibility based on your needs.
For further instructions on how to claim a gift card, click here.
Claiming and redeeming your gift card
A short video walkthrough is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FGsT2fFp0Q. Claiming is usually easiest on a computer or laptop, not a phone. To claim: open your gift card claim page from the claim link in your email, or by signing in and opening the Beneficiary tab of your dashboard at supportnow.org/dashboard?tab=beneficiary. Each card shows two codes — a gift card number and a PIN. Follow the vendor's redemption link and enter the gift card number first.
Trouble redeeming your gift card?
Each claimed gift card comes with two codes: a gift card number and a PIN. If the number comes back as invalid or "not accepted" when you try to redeem it, try entering the PIN instead — many vendors require the PIN rather than the card number. Both codes are shown on your gift card claim page.