Nevada AG Ford settles with PayPal Giving Fund

Nevada Attorney General Aaron D. Ford reached an agreement, alongside 22 state law enforcement partners, with PayPal Charitable Giving Fund Inc., the charitable arm of PayPal Inc. The agreement will help ensure donors who use the fund are given adequate information and disclosures when making a donation through PayPal’s online fundraising program, according to information in a press release from Ford’s office.

“Charitable contributions are the financial backbone of many worthy causes,” Ford said. “Consumers should always have the information they need to make informed decisions about their donations. Today’s settlement with PayPal’s Charitable Giving Fund ensures every donor’s wishes are honored.”

The giving fund, a nonprofit, allows donors to contribute electronically to the fund; donor money is combined and later distributed to a charity of a donor’s choosing.

The giving fund “does not collect fees from donors or charities for this service; however, a charity receives contributions more quickly if the charity maintains a PayPal account, a fact that had not been adequately disclosed to donors,” Ford’s release stated. “In some instances, PPGF (giving fund) redirected donors’ contributions from the charity selected by the donor to other organizations with similar purposes without informing donors.”

Under the recent settlement, PayPal Giving Fund will have to notify donors when the organization redirect’s a donor’s charitable contribution other than the one they’ve selected. The giving fund also has to provide regulators with future campaign data to ensure compliance with the settlement.

PayPal Giving Fund also must pay $200,000 to the National Association of Attorneys General for the NAAG Charities Enforcement and Training Fund.