Thursday, May 29th, 2008

GOOD Stuff

I realize The Chatter already covered it this week, but I would be remiss if I didn’t give a shout out to all of the charitable accomplishments and initiatives being undertaken recently.

First of all, it’s been a month since the eBay Foundation launched the Community Gives campaign that asks Community members and eBay employees to give alongside the Foundation to three inspiring nonprofits:

* First Book - supporting children’s literacy programs.
* Best Friends Animal Society - fostering animal welfare.
* Oxfam - providing access to clean water.

To learn more, check out the Community Gives Web site. With the donation of funds, First Book will provide more than 300,000 new books to children in need throughout the U.S. Best Friends will build a new puppy care center at its sanctuary in Utah, significantly improving their capacity to care for sick and injured puppies. Oxfam will provide access to clean water, a life-saving difference for thousands of Africans living in poverty.

eBay Foundation has sweetened the pot by offering a $1 million donation, to be split evenly among the three organizations. It will also give another $1 for each person who gives during the campaign, up to $100,000.

“By giving together, we can have a bigger impact than any of us could on our own,” said Bill Barmeier, vice president, Global Citizenship. “Through Community Gives, we’re harnessing ‘the power of all of us’ to do great things for three great nonprofits.”

I also saw the following on the internal (iWeb) site for employees and wanted to share:

Since launching in the U.S. in 2003 and in the UK in 2005, eBay Giving Works and eBay for Charity have been committed to making it easy and intuitive for people to raise money for important causes by buying and selling on eBay. Last week, the teams took a big leap toward that goal by rolling out several product enhancements to make the selling experience more streamlined.

Now, sellers can use “My eBay” as a one-stop shop for managing all of their eBay Giving Works and eBay for Charity activity: listings, donations, and tax receipts. Within “My eBay,” the Mission Fish Seller Account is now retired, replaced by a Donation Account.

Similarly, sellers new to the program can get started with just one click. Registering and placing a credit card on file with MissionFish is no longer necessary; the only requirement for creating eBay Giving Works and eBay for Charity listings is to simply agree to the program terms and conditions.

Additionally, the eBay Giving Works and eBay for Charity part of the “Sell Your Item” form is easier to use and more attractive.

“We know sellers have found it cumbersome to use the program,” said Tamas Karpati, product manager for eBay Giving Works, who led this incredibly complex project. “We wanted to make the process as easy as possible, so more people could support their favorite charities more often. By making it easier for sellers to create charity listings and manage their donations, the Community can raise even more money for worthy causes.”

To coincide with these product enhancements, eBay Giving Works and eBay for Charity have redesigned their sites, giving them a new look and fresh content. This will make it easier to learn more about the program and get involved by buying and selling items that benefit nonprofits. Take a peek at www.ebaygivingworks.com and www.ebay.co.uk/charity.

Finally, please don’t forget that the blog roll on the lower right side of the homepage for eBay Ink includes a link to the relatively new What Gives!? blog that focuses on creating social good.

What Gives!? is already generating positive feedback from its early - and active - users, who regularly read posts and leave comments. “We’re really excited about the great response to the blog so far,” said Roman Garcia, marketing specialist for eBay Giving Works, who developed the concept for What Gives!? and manages the content.

“When we first started thinking about having a blog, we saw it primarily as a new way to communicate to the eBay Giving Works audience,” he said. “But as the idea evolved, we saw the potential for this to be a unique platform to highlight all of our Global Citizenship initiatives in a credible way without coming off as boastful and self-serving. We hope our readers will be inspired to take part in our different offerings.”

Tagged: charity, ebay, giving+works, what+gives

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