The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU), a leader in global payment services, today announced that Western Union Business Solutions will sponsor a webinar hosted by The Chronicle of Philanthropy focused on effective foreign exchange management strategies for international non-profit organizations. The webinar to be held November 22, 2011 at 2pm ET is titled, "Doing More With Less: Getting the Most Out of Your Limited Funds."

To register for the free webinar, go to http://philanthropy.com/webinars/westernunion_1.

The webinar will address the strategies that philanthropic organizations can use to effectively manage international payments, thus enabling them to move more money to those who need it, when and where they need it most. 

The current global economic slowdown has directly affected parties on all sides of philanthropic relationships, driving a sharp drop in donations while plunging people around the world further into poverty.  

With fewer dollars to work with, and greater demands placed on those dollars, non-profit and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that operate across international borders must manage their finances more efficiently, precisely, and transparently than ever. More must be done with less. Leading the webinar are:

• Karl Schamotta, Senior Market Strategist with Western Union Business Solutions
• Brendan Marsden, Charity Vertical Specialist with Western Union Business Solutions
• Lorraine Grant, Finance Manager with the Music For Life Institute
• Mark Walston, consultant for The Chronicle of Philanthropy, will moderate the panel

“At Western Union, we harness opportunities to drive shared value, simultaneously producing business and social value through services such as currency risk management and simplified global payments,” said Raj Agrawal, President, Western Union Business Solutions. “Our team understands the FX markets, and can deliver substantial and sustainable value to NGOs operating across borders.”

Additional focus will be given to:

• How to simplify the processes used to move money across the global financial system - cutting costs and increasing efficiency
• Using technology to track, monitor and control the remittance and receipt of funds - to build accountability and improve payment reliability
• Tools that can be used to protect future-dated payments against currency volatility so that exchange rate losses are reduced, and cash flows become more predictable

Western Union Business Solutions enables organizations of all sizes to manage their international transactions, reduce risk, and act on market opportunities through various services including corporate FX solutions that include foreign currency payments, currency risk management consultation and industry solutions.

About Western Union

The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU) is a leader in global payment services. Together with its Vigo, Orlandi Valuta, Pago Facil and Western Union Business Solutions branded payment services, Western Union provides consumers and businesses with fast, reliable and convenient ways to send and receive money around the world, to send payments and to purchase money orders. The Western Union, Vigo and Orlandi Valuta branded services are offered through a combined network of approximately 485,000 agent locations in 200 countries and territories. In 2010, The Western Union Company completed 214 million consumer-to-consumer transactions worldwide, moving $76 billion of principal between consumers, and 405 million business payments. For more information, visit www.westernunion.com.

Western Union

Western Union

The Western Union Company, a leader in global payment services, believes access to financial services is a necessity. Western Union moves money reliably and quickly to almost every country - and we do it for extraordinary people seeking a better life and for businesses that generate jobs and opportunity.

Our business changes lives for the better. So does the Western Union Foundation: since 2001, the Western Union Foundation has awarded more than $101.1 million in grants to more than 2,730 nongovernmental organizations in more than 135 countries and territories..

More from Western Union