DonorsChoose.org Transforms Operations with Ariba

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Lending further proof to the notion that spend management is for organizations of all types, sizes and budgets, Ariba, Inc. (Nasdaq:ARBA), today announced that DonorsChoose.org, a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering innovation and excellence in public schools, has tapped its on-demand spend management solutions to transform its operations and expand the reach of its programs.

“Ariba has a full-featured best in class product that will enable us to grow rapidly and successfully”

At DonorsChoose.org, (www.donorschoose.org), teachers submit requests for the materials and resources they need to provide students with compelling learning experiences, and donors can then search these proposals and fund the project(s) they find most compelling. Once a teacher’s project is fully funded, DonorsChoose.org manages the process of procuring the precise materials necessary to bring that project to life, from sourcing and ordering through invoicing and payment.

By using Ariba’s on-demand spend management solutions, DonorsChoose.org aims to streamline and enhance its e-procurement process so that it can fund projects for high-need students more quickly and efficiently, while providing full accountability to its donors.

“At DonorsChoose.org, our value and integrity hinges on our ability to quickly convert our donors’ contributions into the specific materials their students need to be successful in school and life,” said Oliver Hurst-Hiller, CTO, DonorsChoose.org. “To keep pace with increased demand for funding and donor participation, we knew we needed a solution that could automate our procurement process and improve our productivity. However, with a nonprofit’s tight budgets and limited technology resources, any new solution had to be affordable and easy to implement and use. When we saw Ariba’s on-demand offerings, we knew immediately they were a fit.”

DonorsChoose.org will use Ariba’s on-demand solutions, including the Ariba^® Supplier Network^™ and Ariba Invoice and Payment^™, to convert manual procurement processes to more economical electronic ones that will allow it to operate efficiently and quickly. “Right now, our finance and operations teams can only go at a certain speed because they are doing most things manually,” Hurst-Hiller said. However, DonorsChoose.org’s surge in popularity has forced us to look at more scalable solutions, which can provide the same degree of accountability with a heightened level of efficiency.

With Ariba, DonorsChoose.org has all of the tools needed to reduce cycle times and deliver greater value to its end customers.

Ariba Supplier Network is the world’s leading business collaboration platform, which combines technology and services to better match buyers and suppliers, automate transactions and optimize payments. Through a single connection, the Ariba Supplier Network provides unparalleled reach, functionality and expertise driving effective business collaboration and providing significant value for both buyers and suppliers. Buyers and suppliers in 115 countries leverage the network to engage in transactions worth more than $100 billion a year and process one purchase order every two seconds.

With technology recognized by Forrester Research and Global Finance Magazine as industry-leading, Ariba Invoice and Payment provides robust invoice routing, reconciliation and payment processing for buyers while also giving suppliers real-time visibility into the buyer’s invoice and payment approval process via the Ariba Supplier Network. With Ariba Invoice and Payment, organizations can capture 100 percent of their supplier invoices electronically, and eliminate the paper invoices that clog accounts payable organizations by delivering them to the web browsers of accounts payable personnel. The end results are faster, more efficient processing and easy sharing across departments, significantly lower transactional costs, higher rates of negotiated and early-pay discount capture and improved internal controls.

“Ariba has a full-featured best in class product that will enable us to grow rapidly and successfully,” Hurst-Hiller said. “But the real beneficiaries here are the teachers and students we serve.”

DonorsChoose.org will implement Ariba in two phases, first connecting to the Ariba Supplier Network, then integrating Ariba Invoice and Payment across its financial operations.

“DonorsChoose.org is the perfect example of on-demand spend management in action,” said Matthew Zack, Senior Vice President, Business Development, Ariba. “Leveraging Ariba’s solutions, DonorsChoose.org can take its operations to an entirely new level of efficiency and increase the cost-effectiveness and speed with which they’re able to put materials and resources into the hands of teachers and students who severely need them. We are pleased to be providing such an innovative organization with solutions that will help them achieve their goals.”

About DonorsChoose.org

DonorsChoose.org liberates every public school teacher to be a change maker, and enables any citizen to be a philanthropist. At this not-for-profit website, public school teachers submit their best ideas for materials and experiences that their students need to learn — everything from a classroom library, to basketballs, to a field trip to the zoo.

Individuals can search by areas of interest, learn about classroom needs, and choose to fund the projects that they find most compelling. All donors then hear back from the classrooms they chose to help. At DonorsChoose.org, someone giving $10 enjoys the same choice, impact, and vivid feedback that — until now — have been reserved for millionaire benefactors.

DonorsChoose.org was founded in 2000 by a social studies teacher in the Bronx. Since its inception, citizen philanthropists from all 50 states and 10 countries have funded more than 33,000 classroom projects at DonorsChoose.org, channeling over $14.5 million of resources to students in low-income communities. Recognition of DonorsChoose.org includes the Nonprofit Innovation Award given by Stanford Business School and Amazon.com; the Fast Company Social Capitalist Award; a Global Technology Laureate from the TECH Museum of Innovation; and selection by Ashoka.

About Ariba, Inc.

Ariba, Inc. is the leading provider of spend management solutions to help companies realize rapid and sustainable bottom line results. Successful companies around the world in every industry use Ariba Spend Management™ software and services. Ariba can be contacted in the U.S. at 1.650.390.1000 or at www.ariba.com.

Ariba, the Ariba logo, AribaLIVE and SupplyWatch are registered trademarks of Ariba, Inc. Ariba Spend Management, Ariba Spend Management. Find it. Get it. Keep it., Ariba. This is Spend Management, Ariba Solutions Delivery, Ariba Analysis, Ariba Buyer, Ariba Category Management, Ariba Category Procurement, Ariba Contract Compliance, Ariba Contracts, Ariba Contract Management, Ariba Contract Workbench, Ariba Data Enrichment, Ariba eForms, Ariba Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment, Ariba Invoice, Ariba Sourcing, Ariba Spend Visibility, Ariba Travel and Expense, Ariba Procure-to-Pay, Ariba Workforce, Ariba Supplier Network, Ariba Supplier Connectivity, Ariba Supplier Performance Management, Ariba PunchOut, Ariba QuickSource, PO-Flip, Ariba Settlement, Ariba Spend Management Knowledge Base, Ariba Ready, Ariba Supply Lines, Ariba Supply Manager, Ariba LIVE and It’s Time for Spend Management are trademarks or service marks of Ariba, Inc. Ariba Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved. Patents pending. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

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Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act 1995: Information and announcements in this release involve Ariba's expectations, beliefs, hopes, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future and are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. All forward-looking statements included in this release are based upon information available to Ariba as of the date of the release, and we assume no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results could differ materially from our current expectations. Factors that could cause or contribute to Ariba's operating and financial results to differ materially from its current expectations include, but are not limited to: delays in development or shipment of new versions of Ariba's products and services; lack of market acceptance of Ariba's existing or future products or services; inability to continue to develop competitive new products and services on a timely basis; introduction of new products or services by major competitors; the ability to attract and retain qualified employees; difficulties in assimilating acquired companies; long and unpredictable sales cycles and the deferrals of anticipated orders; declining economic conditions; inability to control costs; changes in the company's pricing or compensation policies; significant fluctuations in our stock price; the outcome of and costs associated with pending or potential future regulatory or legal proceedings; the impact of our acquisitions, including the disruption or loss of customer, business partner, supplier or employee relationships; and the level of costs and expenses incurred by Ariba as a result of such transactions. Factors and risks associated with its business, including a number of the factors and risks described above, are discussed in Ariba's Form 10-Q filed August 8, 2007.