Are Credit Cards for Charity a Good Way to Donate?

Giving money to charity can be a great idea and might be top of mind as the holidays near, but donating with a charity credit card? Not so much, experts say.

It's not that so-called affinity credit cards are evil. Charging purchases on a card with an endangered tiger or a pink breast cancer ribbon on the front might make you feel good, but just realize that you could do far better for yourself and your favorite charity.

"If people read the fine print, they would probably not be that impressed with it," said Daniel Borochoff, president of the watchdog group CharityWatch, based in Chicago. "People should be careful not to feel too good, because you're helping in a very minuscule way."