[Expired] Donate to Charity using Paypal and they’ll add 1% to the Donation

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The Offer

Direct Link to offer

• Donate to your favorite charities through the Paypal Giving Fund and Paypal will add 1% on top of your donation; 101% of your donation amount will go to the charity

The PayPal Giving Fund is an IRS-registered 501(c)(3) public charity (Federal Tax ID: 45-0931286) that supports a global network of donors, businesses and charities to make giving easier. PayPal Giving Fund is the charity of record and will provide the donation receipt for your gift.

The Fine Print

• Make a donation using PayPal starting on Tuesday, November 28, 2017 (Giving Tuesday) through Sunday, December 31, 2017 and we’ll match 1% of every donation that you make through the PayPal Giving Fund
• In order to receive this Offer you must: a) have a U.S. PayPal account in good standing, and b) complete a donation on the PayPal Giving Fund page, designating the charitable organization of your choice, using your PayPal account no later than December 31, 2017 at 11:59:59 PDT
• The following transactions are excluded from this Offer: any donation made when you are not logged into your PayPal account, including PayPal Extras MasterCard/eBay MasterCard payments not made through your PayPal account
• Your donation will be made to PayPal Giving Fund, an IRS-registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
• You will receive a donation receipt by email for your gift and thanks to PayPal’s support, 101% of your donation will be made to the PayPal Giving Fund and granted pursuant to its Donation Delivery Policy
• Your contribution may be tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. Please consult your tax advisor to understand your specific circumstances. No goods or services will be provided in exchange for your donation.

Our Verdict

A lot of people are maxing out their charity donations before the new tax laws go into effect on January 1, especially if they won’t be itemizing in 2018. I was surprised to look through the Paypal list of approved charities and find even some small, local charities; makes this offer more useful. Keep in mind that the donation will process through Paypal Giving Fund, and the tax receipt will come from them, not the charity itself.

Aside from the added 1% which Paypal is offering until year’s end, it’s interesting that Paypal year-round charges no fees to the charity when donating through Paypal Giving Fund. Many times when making online donations on a charity’s website, they’ll redirect through Paypal to process the payment. In that case, the charity is paying processing fees. However, when donating through the Paypal they don’t charge fees ever. (Paypal Giving Fund reportedly codes as charity, though there aren’t many cards with a charity bonus category.)

Maybe we should be routing all donations year-round through the Paypal Giving Fund to save the charity from paying processing fees? Interested in hearing thoughts on this.

Personally, the thing that unsettles me a bit is that Paypal notes that if the donation doesn’t go through for some reason, they’ll simply redirect it to another charity. If you don’t care much who gets your charity, it sounds like a home run. If you are very intent on the specific charity getting the money, you won’t ever know if they’re getting your donations (though I assume if the charity continues to be listed months later that means your previous donations settled properly).