Fundraising for Nonprofits with Online Auctions

When you think of fundraising with online auctions, the first thing that probably comes to mind are eBay auctions. eBay auctions have become a popular way to raise funds for nonprofit organizations. At any given time you will find thousands of items being sold on eBay for charity.

To check out the charity auctions on eBay, first go to the homepage of eBay. There is a menu on the left side. Towards the bottom of the Categories click on “Giving Works (Charity).” You will be taken to a page where you can search for all the charity auction items.

Charity auctions are identified with a charity ribbon icon. As of today, I found rclose to 10,000 items being auctioned for charity.

According to eBay, more than 8,000 organizations have held auctions for charity. Auctions for charities are held the same way that regular auctions are held except that the proceeds are either given 100 percent to the charity or a percentage of the auction proceeds go to a charity.

Any nonprofit organization can fundraise through eBay, but first your organization must register online with the eBay Giving Works program.

There are two ways to sell items through eBay Giving Works as a nonprofit. They are:

Community Selling – Anyone in your organization, or anyone who supports your organization, can sell an item on eBay and donate part of or the entire final sale price to your organization. The donation resulting from the sale of an eBay Giving Works item will be collected and distributed to your organization, and tax receipts will be issued to the seller on your behalf.

Direct Selling – Your nonprofit organization can list items for sale on eBay. Your organization collects the proceeds from the buyers, and your organization isresponsible for providing a tax receipt, if applicable.

To participate in eBay Giving Works your organization must register with MissionFish, a licensed nonprofit service of the Points of Light Foundation. MissionFish’s service and support includes: powering the nonprofit directory for eBay Giving Works; verifying that nonprofits are eligible for this program; collecting and disbursing sellers’ donations; providing sellers with tax receipts; and tracking donations online.

Some of the benefits of eBay Giving Works auctions for your organization include:

– Offering your supporters a new way to raise money for your organization.

– A way to turn in-kind gifts into cash.

– Nationwide, or Worldwide exposure for your organization or cause.

I recommend checking out online auctions as a mean to raise money for your nonprofit organization.

In a future post I plan to write about other ways, besides eBay, to hold online auctions.

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