In a world where things rarely seem to shock or surprise anymore, the capacity to give never ceases to amaze me. A record $54.8 million was donated to U.S. and U.K. nonprofit organizations by eBay buyers and sellers in 2010. A donation was made every 24 seconds through eBay Giving Works, raising more than $91 every minute for nonprofits. Nearly 9 million items were listed for sale in 2010 – with all or a portion of the sale price donated to a nonprofit – more than double the items listed in 2009.

“Through Giving Works, eBay continues to drive innovation in online philanthropy, enabling millions of people to easily donate to organizations they care about and support people and communities in need,” said eBay Inc. President and CEO John Donahoe, who was recently appointed by President Barack Obama to serve on the White House Council for Community Solutions.

“eBay Giving Works shows that when you give people the platform and tools to make a difference, they do,” Donahoe said. “People care, and they are willing to give whatever they can to help. Fifty-five million dollars is a lot of money. But what’s most impressive is that in a tough economy, people gave what they could. And a dollar here, a dollar there, adds up. eBay Giving Works demonstrates that the smallest actions can do a tremendous amount of good.”

eBay also hosts celebrity charity auctions throughout the year to raise money for nonprofits. Here are some highlights:

• A lunch with billionaire investor Warren Buffett sold for $2.6 million, with 100% of the sale benefitting San Francisco’s Glide Memorial Church.

• Celebrity Twitter mentions and followings, auctioned off by TwitChange.com—winner of Mashable’s most creative social good campaign in 2010—with the help of celebrities like Eva Longoria, Kim Kardashian and Justin Bieber, raised $540,631 in less than one week for aHomeInHaiti.org.

• Memorabilia and props from the Nicaragua season of “Survivor” raised $250,000, benefitting The Serpentine Project and Operation Smile.

• Items from Oprah Winfrey’s wardrobe raised $150,000 for The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation.

Since eBay Giving Works was launched in 2003, $230 million has been raised for U.S. and U.K. charities and currently lists over 650,000 charity items on the marketplace.

Pretty incredible stuff.

Cheers,
RBH