(Publication date: February 20, 2025)
Donation Delivery Policy
Donations Made to PayPal Giving Fund
All donations made through PayPal Giving Fund programs are made to PayPal Giving Fund Canada (the 'PayPal Giving Fund'), a charity registered with the Canada Revenue Agency (Registration No.: 812867752RR0001). Each donor recommends a registered charity or qualified donee (as defined in the Charity Certification Policy) to which donations will be granted. We will review all such recommendations under the terms set forth in the Donor Terms of Service. By using PayPal Giving Fund programs, Donors acknowledge that their donations will be granted to registered charities or qualified donees pursuant to such Donor Terms of Service. Donors will receive a receipt from PayPal Giving Fund marking the date the donation was made to us. We make every effort to ensure that our grant-making is consistent with our policies and any applicable laws and regulations.
The enrollment status of a charity or qualified donee will determine the method and speed at which we are able to grant funds to that charity. As described below, we pursue multiple steps to grant donations we receive to our donors’ recommended charities or qualified donees. Pending the distribution of grants, we hold all donations in a secure, dedicated bank account.
Donations to PayPal Giving Fund are final and irrevocable gifts, and refunds are only granted in exceptional circumstances, in accordance with our Donation Refund Policy. In cases where donations are refunded or cancelled after funds have been granted to the recommended charity, PayPal Giving Fund may elect to set off the cancelled donation against a future grant, rather than requesting that the charity return the funds already granted.
Enrolled Charities
PayPal Giving Fund grants funds to charities or qualified donees enrolled with us, pursuant to the PayPal Giving Fund Charity User Agreement. Grants are paid out on a monthly basis on or around the 25th day of each month (typically 15 to 45 days after our receipt of funds). This schedule enables us to streamline processing by providing a lump sum payment to the charity, making it simpler for the charity to identify our payments and account for the funds we have raised. We distribute grants to enrolled charities or qualified donees via PayPal, as we have determined this to be a fast, efficient, secure, and cost-effective way to do so. Donors can be confident their donations will reach their recommended charities securely, and the charities receive the payments into their PayPal accounts quickly and free of charge. Enrolled charities or qualified donees can also review the donations granted to them by us, including donor details (except when donors choose to give anonymously), on their PayPal Giving Fund dashboard, accessible via their PayPal account. Please see our Charity Certification Policy for more information about enrollment.
Unenrolled Charities
Through certain partner programs, donors may have the option to recommend that we grant the funds they donate to charities or qualified donees that have not yet enrolled with PayPal Giving Fund Canada. We attempt to grant donations made to charities or qualified donees that have not enrolled with PayPal Giving Fund after making reasonable attempts to contact them and invite their enrolment in PayPal Giving Fund. We receive information about these charities or qualified donees from the Canada Revenue Agency database. We will grant funds to an unenrolled charity or qualified donee provided that (1) we have been able to confirm that the charity or qualified donee complies with the requirements of our Charity Certification Policy, and (2) we have verified the charity’s or qualified donee’s identity and conducted an appropriate level of due diligence into the charity, its officers and directors to be confident that that it does not promote hate, violence, racial intolerance, and does not engage in money laundering or other illegal activities.
We will first notify an unenrolled charity or qualified donee about PayPal Giving Fund’s intent to grant it funds the month after donors have first indicated a desire to support it. We will invite the charity or qualified donee to enroll with PayPal Giving Fund, enabling it to receive funds quickly and securely, and to review details of its donors. We will make multiple subsequent attempts to contact unenrolled charities or qualified donees, via email, letter and, in some cases, by telephone. If a charity or qualified donee does not enroll with PayPal Giving Fund, we will attempt to deliver the donations by other appropriate means, including via cheque, typically within 90 days. If we are unable to pay the charity or qualified donee by cheque (e.g., a cheque is returned or is not cashed within the specified time), we may, at our discretion, remove the charity or qualified donee from our directory of eligible charities and qualified donees and reassign funds in the manner described below.
Reassignment of Certain Donations
While we take all reasonable steps to attempt to grant donated funds according to the donor’s recommendation, PayPal Giving Fund Canada retains exclusive control over all donations. In the rare cases when a charity or qualified donee fails to meet the terms of our Charity Certification Policy and/or fails to meet our due diligence standards as described above, we reserve the right to reassign funds to another registered charity or qualified donee of our choice. We may also reassign donations in the event we are unable to distribute the funds successfully (e.g., the charity fails to cash the cheque(s) we send).
If funds are reassigned, no new donation tax receipt will be issued. The donor may continue to use the previously issued donation tax receipt because PayPal Giving Fund remains the charitable organization of record for the donor’s original donation.
In the rare cases when we must reassign a donation, we will (whenever possible) ask the donor to recommend a different enrolled charity or qualified donee from the PayPal Giving Fund Directory. If we are unable to reach the donor, or the donor chooses not to respond, we will try to grant the funds to a charity that operates in a similar cause area to the charity or qualified donee originally recommended by the donor. Where the cause area is unlikely to reflect the donor’s original intent, we will instead grant the funds to a charity or qualified donee with a broad humanitarian mission. In selecting charities or qualified donees to benefit from such grants, we favour those that have enrolled with PayPal Giving Fund Canada, to enable efficient, secure and cost-effective delivery to charities or qualified donees that have accepted the PayPal Giving Fund Canada Charity User Agreement. For example, if we are unable to make a grant to an unenrolled local organization providing education services, we would typically reassign the funds to an enrolled national organization providing education services.
Expediting payments in response to disasters
In response to natural disasters, humanitarian crises or other events requiring urgent action, PayPal Giving Fund may seek to accelerate the payment of grants to charities undertaking relief and recovery work. We aim in those circumstances to help enable access to funds as soon as they are needed. However, we aim only to grant funds to charities or qualified donees that meet the requirements of our Charity Certification Policy, and certain checks we carry out to protect donated funds are mandated by regulations and take time to complete.