In what can only be described as remarkable, the eBay community has surpassed the $200 million mark for cumulative funds raised with eBay Giving Works since 2003. This represents year-over-year double digit growth.

How it works:
eBay Giving Works enables eBay users to support their favorite causes whenever they buy and sell. Today the program offers five easy ways to make a difference:
• Community Selling: Any seller can donate part of their sale price to a nonprofit. The seller decides which organization to support and how much to give (10-100 percent), and gets a tax deduction for their gift.
• Direct Selling: Nonprofits can sell their own items on eBay to raise funds. eBay waives most basic selling fees for nonprofits, making Direct Selling practically free.
• Shop eBay Giving Works: Every item posted by a Community or Direct Seller bears the eBay Giving Works blue and yellow charity ribbon, so it’s easy for buyers to shop for items to support causes that matter to them.
• Give at Checkout: 1.5 million shoppers every day are invited to add a donation on top of their eBay purchase, when they pay by PayPal. Give at Checkout has raised nearly $5 million in its first 12 months.
• Donate Now: eBay and PayPal users who discover an eBay Giving Works organization they care about can give as little as $1 right away without buying or selling.

It goes without saying that the fact that $50 million was raised in 2009 alone, coupled with the unbelievable final auction price of the lunch with Warren Buffett (the highest value charity auction ever sold on eBay at $2.63 million), greatly contributed to this superb achievement.

Cheers,
RBH