Pre-school aged girl in a green t-shirt and with blue paint on her hands works on a school mural with other youth volunteers

PayPal Giving Fund + IBM

Building capacity for global giving
Smiling senior citizen woman wearing a red parka offers up a warm cup of coffee and a healthy dose of cheer at a food kitchen

Established in 2011, PayPal Giving Fund (PPGF)uses PayPal technology and financial support to raise funds for a wide range of causes, without charging donors or charities for its services.

Two young sisters, bundled up in the cold and sporting face paint, compete in a fun run as their parents try and keep pace
A volunteer gently holds baby turtle hatchlings to protect them from predators, ensuring they will make it to the ocean

PPGF generated more than USD 200 million in donations in 2019 for over 90,000 charities.

A young man in a blue hoodie thanks a volunteer doctor for his time and support at a localflu shot vaccination event

PPGF's partner platforms which enable giving include PayPal, eBay, GoFundMe and others.

A young developer in a blue t-shirt and with headphones around his neck reviews code with his female colleague

As PPGF began to process higher donation volumes and distribute more funds to charities, its legacy on-premises ERP system could no longer keep up with all the kindness.

Close-up of orange high-speed networking cables connected to server components

We essentially outgrew our on-premises system,” says Joshua Tripp, President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of PPGF.

We were processing too many transactions. Upgrades were difficult. Steps had to be taken through multiple firewalls to get access. We needed a more scalable accounting system,” says Tripp.

A close-up profile view of a young black woman with glasses intently inspecting lines of code in her software application

Since PPGF’s parent organization, PayPal, already had existing business relationships with IBM and SAP, PPGF management started conversations with those companies to define what a solution might look like.

A young black male developer working late into the night inspecting and reviewing lines ofcode in his software application

We liked the idea that we could have a cloud system that was more accessible, scalable and upgradable,” says Tripp.

As villagers look on, a black woman in a floral dress pumps water into a large container from a community well in Africa

PPGF migrated its on-premises ERP system to the SAP S/4HANA® Cloud platform. IBM Services and SAP worked together to complete the migration in six months, enabling PPGF to process more donations and handle future growth.

Close-up of a soup kitchen volunteer wearing protective blue latex gloves and an apron asthey ladle soup into a white bowl

After starting their migration to the SAP S/4HANA Cloud system in late April 2019, PPGF saw a major timing challenge on the horizon, as more than half of all charitable giving occurs during the last two months of the year.

A young caregiver holds the hand of an elderly woman as they carefully descend a flight of wooden stairs to start the day

As the migration process entered its final phase in October 2019, Tripp heard from his treasurer that if the donation system wasn’t in place by the end of the month, it would be a serious challenge to PPGF.

Teenaged brother and sister in bright yellow t-shirts smile as they plant a pine seedling with other volunteers

With two of the biggest online events just around the corner, PPGF needed to test its new donation system before going live.

A young mom in a floral dress shares a story with her red-haired infant daughter as the girl’s father reads in the background

Within days of going live, the new PPGF system received its first major test with the launch of Give at Checkout, a new service that enabled online shoppers to make charitable donations when purchasing products.

Time-lapse photography creates an interesting bright orange circular effect in a server storage room

During September and October, PPGF averaged about 20,000 donations per day. The donation system was ready to take things to the next level.

A close-up on the face of a white poodle, terrier mix at an animal shelter as the vet rescue volunteer assistant looks on

With hundreds of thousands of new merchant partners offering the Give at Checkout option, donation volumes doubled to 40,000 transactions a day.

The seamless experience made Give at Checkout and PPGF’s donation system a success.

Food bank volunteers in yellow t-shirts pack a cardboard box with canned goods, bottled water and blankets for those in need

The next test came in early December 2019 with two of the biggest online events of the year — Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday. PPGF handled over 85,000 transactions each day without any issues.

Four firefighters prepare to set backfires to try and contain the wildfires that have ravaged the Australian countryside

Transactions continued to grow considerably in January 2020. As wildfires raged in Australia, PPGF received as many as 500,000 donations a day from people all over the world.

Two young male conservation workers in the forest compare field notes while kneeling next to an area of newly planted grasses
Four young volunteer workers wearing their company lanyards celebrate a successful day of giving back and helping others

PPGF has witnessed an overwhelming amount of generosity through its partners and continues to add more merchant sites to accommodate increased donations during the global COVID-19 pandemic.

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