PayPal Holdings (NASDAQ: PYPL), in a deal with the National Philanthropic Trust (NPT) and Vanguard Charitable, unveiled Grant Payments, a new product that enables Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) sponsors, community foundations and other grantmakers to deliver grants to charities electronically via PayPal.
Grant Payments will enable charities to receive grants shortly after the funds have been approved by the grantmaker. “Shortly” was not defined. Both grantmakers and charities will have access to all available grant details, including donor information when provided, via a PayPal dashboard. Eligible and participating charities are vetted per PayPal’s compliance standards.
“PayPal is committed to offering safe, secure and seamless products and services that drive efficiency for grantmakers and charities to digitally send and receive grant payments,” said Oktay Dogramaci, vice president of giving at PayPal. “By partnering with National Philanthropic Trust and Vanguard Charitable, PayPal Grant Payments will enable more than 200,000 PayPal confirmed charities to quickly receive grants electronically, streamlining and simplifying what has historically been a much more manual and drawn-out process.”
Grants from DAFs to qualified charities totaled an estimated $34.67 billion during 2020, representing a 27 percent increase compared to 2019 and the highest DAF grant increase in a decade, according to various data sources. During 2021, Vanguard Charitable sent $1.78 billion and NPT sent $6.4 billion in grants to charities. The payments were made almost entirely by check.
“NPT is always interested in innovation and the pandemic amplified the need for non-profits to receive grant dollars more efficiently,” said Eileen Heisman, CEO of National Philanthropic Trust in Jenkintown, Pa. “This solution does that and more. We believe that PayPal-based Grant Payments will simplify and accelerate how grantmakers can get funds to non-profits for mission-critical programs.”
The NPT will begin to roll out Grant Payments this month, with Vanguard Charitable offering the solution in 2023. All eligible U.S. charities with a confirmed charity status with PayPal can receive grants via PayPal from the partner grantmakers. Charities can review the grant information and accept or decline the grant within their PayPal dashboard. Interested grantmakers can contact PayPal for more information at [email protected], and more information can be found here.