PayPal Stories Archive

 

Here at PayPal, we’re passionate about giving people better ways to connect to their money and each other - helping our 179 million active customer accounts to make purchases, start businesses, send money between family and friends and donate to causes they care about. In our efforts to transform money through technology, we put people at the center of everything we do. And when it comes to supporting the communities in which we work, we empower our employees to select causes and organizations that matter most to them. 

 

"Following separation from eBay last year, we had phone calls and emails from employees all over the world wondering how PayPal was going to support their desire to help local charities," said Julie Vennewitz-Pierce, Senior Manager of Employee Engagement and Philanthropy efforts. "That level of interest was so inspiring to our whole team as we were thinking through how we could best design employee programs at PayPal."

 

In response, the PayPal Social Innovationteam launched PayPal Gives - a corporate charitable fund that supports multiple employee giving programs including the PayPal GIVE Team program. There are currently 27 PayPal offices in 16 countries with local GIVE chapters that dedicate time and resources to selecting and activating local volunteering and fundraising efforts, which includes submitting grant applications for funding.

 

"It's a unique approach. As employees, we decide where the money goes," said Sean Milliken, Head of Social Innovation, "It's not about the company making a decision on behalf of our employees. We ask employees to tell us what causes are important in their community and we provide guidance and training to help our local teams decide which projects to fund.”

 

In 2015, 74 charitable organizations received grants totaling $307,500. These grants were directed to a variety of causes, from domestic violence and veteran support programs in the United States to homelessness and mental illness abroad. One team funded repairs to a historical castle in Ireland that houses a camp for chronically and critically ill children.

 

Increasingly, GIVE teams are focusing efforts towards projects that advance financial inclusion and participation to more directly support PayPal's efforts to democratize financial services. Last year employees on the San Jose team directed about 50% of their grant funds towards projects in this arena. They supported technology enhancements of MyPath Mobile, an interactive educational platform that helps low-income working youth to save and build credit, and worked with Samaritan House to provide long-term financial coaching and free VITA tax preparation services to low-income families. Working with the Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center, PayPal is supporting programs that offer existing and emerging entrepreneurs the tools to help increase their income, build their assets, invest in their families and contribute to their communities. Another project with Boys Town, funded by the Omaha team,is providing small, short-term, low-interest loans to aid low-income families in the purchase of an automobile.

 

A full list of 2015 grantees is shown below. No matter what causes they choose to support, all of PayPal’s GIVE Teams are dedicated to driving meaningful social impact in their communities all year long. In 2016, PayPal’s GIVE Teams around the world will work to uncover even more opportunities to support financial participation in their region and continue to build upon the accomplishments made in 2015.