With initiatives like Giving Tuesday on November 27, today’s global community has greater opportunities than ever before to help those in need. A credit to the internet’s shrinking of the globe, social platforms and always-on digital media can shine a constant spotlight on causes, organizations, and communities that otherwise might slip under our attention—and on the broader importance of giving back our time, resources, and money to charity, whomever we choose as their recipients.

But the question remains of just how to best help others. In America, do we prefer to give our money or volunteer our time when considering our own charitable efforts? According to a recent Citi study, 55% of people who do not contribute their time to positive social change causes wish they could, and two out of three people who do contribute their time wish it was easier to do so. In other words, people want to give their time and skills to charitable causes, not just their money.

Charitable organizations will likely welcome this news, suggesting plenty of potential volunteers waiting to be activated. But they’re not the only ones who would benefit from paying attention: increasingly, consumers expect corporations to value social responsibility just as much as they do—a trend again led by younger generations’ preferences. In fact, 81% of Millennials expect innovative companies to publicly commit to working toward positive social change. Can corporations lead the way in helping people direct their time and energy into driving positive change in society?

With Canvas, users take the wheel in building the future of banking

Enter Canvas Designed by Citi℠. Already tapped into the promise and power of the FinTech revolution, Citi has dedicated itself to helping its users shape the future of finance and banking—by giving their time through direct participation in Canvas.

Launched in 2017, Canvas is a testing community that gives customers the opportunity to co-create products that fit their lifestyle and redefine how to approach all things finance. In short, Canvas creates a community that will ultimately help guide Citi—and its customers—toward better banking solutions for their unique lifestyles.

Canvas’s community-oriented focus shows how Citi knows technology itself won’t guide us toward a better future—people will, when we humanize technology by using our lived experiences to inform what tech can do for us. By placing the power to shape banking’s future into the hands of the people whose daily financial lives will most be affected by that future, Citi is leaning into a more democratic, user-focused business model. But how does it work?

It’s simple. Any tech enthusiast can apply to join Citi’s Canvas testing community. Once they’re signed up, Citi will contact select Canvas members to participate in testing new features helping to generate and capture user feedback for future product development.

This experience takes fascinating and often surprising turns. For instance, recent tests on the Canvas platform had members researching whether the amount of steps one takes per day has any effect on one’s spending habits, or whether thinking of budgets in terms of “wants, needs, and goals,” rather than purely monetary or traditional terms, can positively affect spending and saving. 

Co-creation for social good

Canvas taps members’ desire to volunteer their time, giving them the opportunity to work on shaping a more consumer-focused banking world—one better for the average customer.

But Canvas’s commitment to the idea of giving back doesn’t stop there. In the coming months, Citi will team up with a charity in an effort to build a better world while also building a better bank. That partner will be a global organization committed to inspiring and preparing young people to succeed, as research proves that the three social causes that people care about most are children, health, and education.

In this new initiative, Citi will donate to its youth-oriented charitable partner every time a new person participates in the Canvas community, a better reason than ever to sign up with Canvas. Now, not only will Canvas testers help to shape a more approachable and user-focused financial future by giving their time, they’ll be directly helping tomorrow’s generation get ready for a lifetime of entrepreneurship and innovation. Together, Citi and the Canvas community are working to fulfill the FinTech promise of a better world through banking—and who wouldn’t want to sign up for that?