Coupa Leverages B2B Savings to Create Corporate Social Responsibility Platform

Unique business network ecosystem now benefits charities and demonstrates the power of working together

SAN MATEO, CA – December 17, 2015 – Coupa Software, the leader in cloud-based spend management, today announced that savings generated through its Coupa Advantage program will be donated continually to support humanitarian efforts by select charities. Coupa Advantage leverages the collective buying power of more than $120B in Coupa customer spending to negotiate contracts from premier business suppliers that delivers savings on everyday purchases. A percentage of the calculated savings is set aside for charitable contributions.

To date, 31 local, national and international charities including World Vision, UNICEF, and United Way have benefitted from the savings generated by Coupa Advantage. Additional charities will be nominated by customers, suppliers and employees for future donations.

"The contributions from Coupa get us closer to meeting our visionary goal of ending the cycle of poverty in the Bay Area,” said Eric McDonnell, chief operating officer of United Way of the Bay Area. “This is the first time we have partnered with an internet technology company, and we are excited to work together as change makers to ensure all Bay Area residents have the opportunities they need to thrive.”

World Vision Area Director of Philanthropy Bobby Majka said the donation from Coupa will help World Vision launch its “Every Last One” campaign to impact more than 45 million children worldwide. Their billion-dollar campaign will focus on issues regarding education, economic empowerment, water, mother and child health, emergency relief and child protection.

“Coupa’s contribution will go into the budget for this campaign and then reviewed by a committee that will decide where the money will go and for what need,” Majka said. “The need is just absolutely immense. There are approximately one billion people still living in extreme poverty. In fact, approximately 17,000 children die every day due to preventable causes. Coupa’s donation will assist in helping us reduce that statistic in more than 100 countries.”

Savings with a Purpose
Coupa Advantage uses technology intelligently to seamlessly embed corporate social responsibility into B2B commerce without increasing business spending. This provides an opportunity for suppliers and their customers doing everyday business through the Coupa Open Business Network™ to give back to society.

“We’re partnering with our customers and suppliers to actively deliver on our corporate social responsibility,” said Rob Bernshteyn, CEO of Coupa. “We’ve built an innovative model that creates value through business network usage and passes savings to charities. It’s savings with a purpose. We’re humbled by our role in contributing to the greater good.”

CSR is a Business Imperative
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a business practice that involves participating in initiatives that benefit society and is becoming more mainstream as forward-thinking companies embed sustainability into the core of their business operations to create shared value for business and society, according to Business News Daily.(1)

In addition, the European Union (EU) has also mandated that, starting in 2016, EU businesses with more than 500 employees report or explain their performance on a variety of sustainability matters, according to the Directorate-General for Financial Stability Financial Services and Capital Markets Union in Brussels, Belgium.

“Community is our responsibility and we take our responsibility seriously,” said Debbie Townsend, director of purchasing at TCI TireCenters. “It’s fantastic that Coupa has allowed our normal buying from Coupa Advantage suppliers to turn into charitable contributions. We appreciate Coupa continually partnering with us to be successful holistically."

The Power of We
A cornerstone of Coupa’s business is working collaboratively with customers and their suppliers to deliver results. This is the spirit upon which Coupa Advantage was created and passing a percentage of savings along to charities is a natural expansion. This unique ecosystem now benefits everyone - suppliers, buyers, charities - and demonstrates the power of working together.

“Being a good corporate citizen is important to us and we’re always thinking of creative ways to do more with our resources,” said Brian Abrams, chief executive officer of Corporate Imaging Concepts. “When Coupa showed us how the additional business we are getting from Coupa customers has simultaneous impact on the community, we were thrilled to see our business helping people. We’re proud to be a part of this giving community.”

For more information on the Coupa Advantage program, please see: http://www.coupa.com/community/coupa-advantage/

About Coupa Software
Coupa Software enables businesses everywhere to recognize bottom-line financial success via Savings-as-a-Service. More than 500 customers doing business in over 100 countries use Coupa to support business agility and reduce costs. Only Coupa provides an organic suite of true cloud applications including accounts payable, procurement, expense management, sourcing and inventory, allowing customers to realize a return on investment that starts within a few months and grows continually. Learn more at www.coupa.com. Read more on the Coupa Blog or follow @Coupa on Twitter.

1)  Fallon Taylor, N. (2015, June 19). What is Corporate Social Responsibility? Retrieved from http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/4679-corporate-social-responsibility.html