A Percentage of Our Trades, All of Our Heart: Cardtonic Cares

Rain in Lagos has a way of showing up uninvited, like a party-crasher. 

Sometimes in the middle of December (sorry to Harmattan!), or on a not-so-random Thursday in June. 

We had a planned Cardtonic Cares outreach at the Sickle Cell Foundation Nigeria in Surulere on this day in June 2025. Earlier that morning, several Cardtonic Cares volunteers trooped into the staff bus, with enough energy for the entire trip to Lagos mainland and back.

But soon, dark clouds started to gather, and all the side chit-chats began to quiet down, while we watched the weather change from the corner of our eyes. 

In minutes, a heavy downpour started while on the Third Mainland Bridge. 

We started to consider making a few adjustments to our plans at that moment. Until someone started to sing ‘rain, rain, go away, come again another day,’ a few more semi-crooked voices joined in, and the tension began to ease off.  We knew it was all going to be okay. 

But by the time we arrived at Idi-Araba Surulere, with a full day planned, there was no hesitation, even with the rain still pouring.

21 of us showed up. With our t-shirts soaked and our sneakers going through hell AND high waters (pun intended — someone even ‘launched’ their brand-new Nike kicks that morning), we were ready. 

Logistics started as a scramble, coordinating movements in a downpour that seemed determined to test us. And yet, somehow, we did the hard work with genuine cheer even before the gloomy clouds cleared. Another Cardtonic Cares project was done. 

But let’s back-track a bit. 

CT Cares started for us back in January 2022. We made a simple New Year’s resolution in that first week: to give something substantial away as a company, every single month. We drew up a simple plan; for every transaction on our platform since that month, we dedicate a portion of our proceeds to support local charities.

We’ve kept to that New Year Resolution without a single fail. 

And no, simply donating money from the comfort of our office wouldn’t do. Every month, we commit time to physically visit an organisation as a team, meet the people whose lives we’re touching, and share in their stories.

The work we do with Cardtonic Cares has become more intentional with each passing year.  Every quarter, we seek out organizations that have done honest work and impacted lives in some way, then we partner to touch even more lives. And if you asked us why we take this as seriously as we do? We’d sum it up with a single line: because it matters to us that our actions reflect our values. 

As a people, we value compassion, equality, and empowerment. We value community and all the people that make up society — fathers, mothers, young adults, school children, the elderly, the marginalized, people with disabilities. We value people in all the forms they can possibly come, and we love to contribute our own quota to improving the quality of their lives.

On the trip back to the Island after that outreach in June, Mayah, one of our volunteers, said something profound: “Before joining Cardtonic, I used to enjoy volunteering with NGOs and other charity initiatives. But being in a company that treats giving back with the same seriousness I do? It has been like a breath of fresh air. It feels like we’re doing some real good. Like we’re paying good fortune forward.”

We believe so too, and other moments have reinforced this again and again. 

Like the month we met over 150 youth corps members at the NYSC Lagos Tech Unit. We talked about technology, digital literacy, digital possibilities, and — the highlight of it all! — we celebrated their achievements with certificates and prizes. 

It’s been 47 outreaches so far since our first (48 by Friday this week, when we take 125 Christmas-in-a-Box packages in partnership with Slum2School to Makoko!), and participation from our team, the Humans of Cardtonic, has grown. 

What began as a small group of about half a dozen volunteers in 2022 has expanded into a full team, eager to contribute with high spirits and warm hands. We’ve lost count of the inside jokes, playful traditions, and the thrill of being part of something truly meaningful. Giving back is now embedded in our culture, not out of obligation but from delight. 

We’ve learned a lot from the communities we’ve served too. We’ve seen people go through tough seasons in life and grow backbones padded with resilience, hopefulness, and gratitude, and it does something for us. It gives us something to go home with in return. 

Cardtonic Cares is how we’ve made sure to go outside and touch grass every month since January 2022. Almost three years in & it has kept us grounded: our priorities are straight, our hearts are in check, our hands are well within reach of the community.

And honestly? The best ROI in our books.