The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity and PayPal announce strategic partnership for cross-border online donations

The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity teams up with PayPal

12 January 2019

Year over year, the number of online donations received by our charity from abroad is growing. For 2.5 million Poles living abroad, being able to contribute to WOŚP every year is of big importance. To address the above, since the 27th Grand Finale, people from all over the world will be able to donate easier, safer and quicker directly by using global online payment platform, PayPal.

Today Wielka Orkiestra Świątecznej Pomocy, the most socially trusted[1] non-profit, charity organization in Poland, and PayPal, global online payment platform, have announced a strategic cooperation to allow millions of people living outside of Poland to donate to WOSP via PayPal.
[1] Based on a survey carried out by IQS, using the CAWI interview methodology, on a representative sample of Poles, for the needs of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity Foundation. The survey was conducted in the period of 30/11-3/12/2018 (https://www.wosp.org.pl/aktualnosci/polacy-od-16-lat-najbardziej-ufaja-fundacji-wosp)

With a long tradition of collecting donations offline, year over year WOŚP is becoming more and more active online. Only during 26th Grand Finale last year, the organization collected over 54 M PLN via applications, websites, online auctions and other forms of support through digital channels.

With the community of over 254 million active users around the world, PayPal has an extraordinary opportunity to not only facilitate existing needs but also to further support the growth of the charity's cross-border donation volumes. PayPal will support charitable giving by creating convenient touch-points for customers to contribute across many countries they are coming from.

To obtain funds for the primary goal of the organization, which is to provide Polish hospitals with modern medical equipment, every year Wielka Orkiestra Świątecznej Pomocy organizes the Grand Finale, a nationwide fundraising drive held traditionally in early January. The Finale has the same format throughout Poland, and in many cases abroad as well. It consists of hundreds events and concerts during which donations for the foundation are collected. The Grand Finale activities also include an army of volunteers who collect funds on the streets, in return handing out the red heart-shaped stickers bearing the Orchestra's logo.

The finale of WOŚP is an important date for Polish diasporas all over the world, who organize fundraising activities, concerts, events and happenings fully dedicated to supporting the cause. Last year, the events were organized in over 70 locations in Europe, US and Asia. This year the charitable fundraiser will be organized by almost 90 hubs of activity. Volunteers will be collecting funds all around the world.

Our partnership with Wielka Orkiestra Świątecznej Pomocy is not only a milestone for millions of Poles living abroad but also the one I’m the proudest of. Globally, we’ve been working closely with charities for years, to name just #GivingTuesday initiative - with over 1 million PayPal users collecting nearly $98 million to charitable causes in 2018 alone. I am sure we will be able to leverage our experience, as well as dedication here to now support WOŚP in enabling and further developing their cross-border donations stream.

Marcin Glogowski, General Manager of PayPal Central and Eastern Europe

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The opportunity to pay with PayPal was the most often raised question by our donors from abroad. Enabling such a possibility is a significant milestone. I hope that not only it will lead directly to wider support of the Orchestra by the Polish diaspora, but also will contribute to the popularization of the idea of our Foundation all over the world. Joining the group of our donors from abroad will be simpler and faster. Not to mention the fact that the Orchestra will receive additional donations enabling it to provide special children's hospitals in Poland with the latest medical equipment. This way we will increase the chance for an effective fight for the health and lives of the most seriously ill children.

Krzystof Dobies, Press Officer of the GOCC