Bottom line: Unless you don't care about being recognized by us, use PayPal to donate to us, but please don't donate to PayPal Giving Fund unless you are prepared to do so anonymously!
We had a user contact us stating that they donated to the Library here on March 23 and didn't get forum validated. We had no record of the transaction. It turns out that he had used something called PayPal Giving Fund, instead of using one of our links or historical alternative methods.
In this case PayPal's charity gave us a single PayPal contribution payment on April 25, 2023 that included a handful of transactions that had taken for us, including this one from March 23 -- more than a month earlier.
It turns out we've had a total of $87 or so worth of donations come through this method. Exact, one isn't donating to our library. You are actually donating to PayPal's non-profit, which in turn will forward collected donations on a monthly basis as a single transaction. They get use of funds apparently in the meantime.
And, if the charity doesn't have a PayPal account already, they can give the $ to some other charity than the donor intended. The Library has a PayPal account obviously, so this part isn't likely a problem here.
The biggest problem (in addition to waiting up to a month for funds) is that there are no API notifications for such transactions, because they aren't donations made via PayPal. They are donations TO PayPal Giving Fund. It doesn't validate you on this site, nor add to fruit symbols, etc.
How PayPal promotes this:
www.paypal.com
A report of pros and cons:
givebutter.com
Complaints about same:
In 2020 they settled with the attorney generals of nearly 2 dozen states on their practices:
perlmanandperlman.com
California has a new law regulating such platforms:
perlmanandperlman.com
We had a user contact us stating that they donated to the Library here on March 23 and didn't get forum validated. We had no record of the transaction. It turns out that he had used something called PayPal Giving Fund, instead of using one of our links or historical alternative methods.
In this case PayPal's charity gave us a single PayPal contribution payment on April 25, 2023 that included a handful of transactions that had taken for us, including this one from March 23 -- more than a month earlier.
It turns out we've had a total of $87 or so worth of donations come through this method. Exact, one isn't donating to our library. You are actually donating to PayPal's non-profit, which in turn will forward collected donations on a monthly basis as a single transaction. They get use of funds apparently in the meantime.
And, if the charity doesn't have a PayPal account already, they can give the $ to some other charity than the donor intended. The Library has a PayPal account obviously, so this part isn't likely a problem here.
The biggest problem (in addition to waiting up to a month for funds) is that there are no API notifications for such transactions, because they aren't donations made via PayPal. They are donations TO PayPal Giving Fund. It doesn't validate you on this site, nor add to fruit symbols, etc.
How PayPal promotes this:
PayPal Giving Fund Home - PayPal US
We help people support their favorite charities online and helps charities raise funds through PayPal, eBay, and other technology platforms.
A report of pros and cons:
PayPal Giving Fund for Nonprofits | Givebutter
Learn how PayPal Giving Fund works, the pros and cons, and how signing up can both help and harm your fundraising.
Complaints about same:
PayPal Giving Fund Misleads Donors and Charities | Charity Compliance Solutions
PayPal joined the giving platform back in 2013 with the PayPal Giving Fund. This program allowed users to choose from a list of charities on PayPal’s website and make donations promising that 100% of the donation would be delivered to the intended charity. Primarily using eBay marketplaces...
www.charitycompliancesolutions.com
In 2020 they settled with the attorney generals of nearly 2 dozen states on their practices:
PayPal Giving Fund Enters Multi-State Settlement to Ensure Transparency to Donors - Perlman & Perlman
Almost two dozen states announced that they have entered into a multi-state settlement agreement with PayPal Charitable Giving Fund (“PPGF”) to ensure that donors have adequate information to make informed decisions when giving through PPGF’s online fundraising platform. As part of the...
California has a new law regulating such platforms:
Key Provisions of California Assembly Bill 488 Regulating Charitable Fundraising Platforms Take Effect January 1, 2023 - Perlman & Perlman
This blog post summarizes the portions of California Assembly Bill 488 that go into effect on January 1, 2023, the delayed effective date for other portions of the law, and the status of the proposed regulations to fully implement the law. The California Department of Justice (“DOJ”) published a...
