eBay for Charity hits $1 billion fundraising milestone

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/nba.30702
• Published date: 01 January 2020
• Date: 01 January 2020

JANUARY 2020 NONPROFIT BUSINESS ADVISOR

5

© 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company • All rights reserved

DOI: 10.1002/nba

Industry News

eBay for Charity hits $1 billion

fundraising milestone

eBay for Charity, the cause-driven platform of

global auction site eBay, has reached a major mile-

stone—over $1 billion in total funds have been raised

on the site for charities around the world.

According to the company, use of eBay for Char-

ity is seeing substantial growth. In 2018, more than

83,500 charities were registered on the site, a 26% up-

tick from the year before. That year, a total of about

$102 million was raised by nonprots, about 20%

more than in 2017. And for 2019, the numbers look

even better, hitting the $92 million mark by the end of

October and pushing it over the $1 billion milestone.

With so much charitable giving taking place in the

last two months of the year, the site is almost certain

to eclipse 2018 levels handily by Dec. 31.

There are four main ways to raise funds on the

site, which is used by some 182 million people around

the world:

• Charity auctions, where a donor or benefac-

tor—oftentimes a celebrity partner recruited by

eBay—offers up an item to be auctioned to raise

money for the donor’s charity of choice. Perhaps

the most famous example is the annual Power Lunch

with Warren Buffett, which has brought in as much

as $3 million in a single auction, but other notable

names include George Clooney, Jimmy Kimmel,

Jay Leno, Steph Curry, Andrea Bocelli, Miranda

Lambert and Chase Elliott, all of whom donated

one-of-a-kind items and experiences to benet their

favorite charities. This year, two charity auctions—the

Power Lunch with Warren Buffett, which benets the

Glide Foundation, which helps the homeless, and the

ESPYs auction beneting the V Foundation—posted

record-breaking fundraising totals, bring in $908,000

and $4.5 million, respectively.

• Direct selling, where nonprots such as Goodwill

and The Salvation Army sell goods on the platform

with no transaction fees charged, so that 100% of the

proceeds go to the organization. In 2018, some $83

million was raised through direct selling.

• Community selling, where eBay users can sell

their items and earmark a percentage of the proceeds

to a specic charity. In 2018, some $10.5 million was

raised by community sellers for charity. On the other

side of the transaction, purpose-minded buyers can

search the site for the items they are looking for that

also have a charity component.

• Giving at checkout, which allows eBayers to dedi-

cate a specic dollar amount to benet their favorite

charity when they make a purchase through the site.

While other platforms are available for charities

and donors to raise funds in similar ways—Facebook

and GoFundMe, for example, both have charity com-

ponents that leverage their platforms and user base to

help nonprots fundraise—eBay for Charity is one of

the oldest. Although ofcially launched in 2003, the

platform grew out of events that took place two years

earlier. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, eBay created

“Auction for America” to raise funds to support the

victims’ families. That effort brought in $10 million.

The platform has since grown into one of the largest

giving communities in the world.

To celebrate the $1 billion milestone, the company

created a series of videos to showcase how a single

purchase on eBay for Charity can have a positive

impact on charities and their local communities.

These video portraits featured Goodwill San Fran-

cisco, More Than Words and Africa Direct, detailing

compelling stories of nonprot leaders and commu-

nity members working to do good, thanks in no small

part to eBay for Charity. Their stories can be viewed

on eBay’s YouTube channel at YouTube.com/ebay.

For more information, visit https://www.

ebayforcharity.org. ■

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