SAN JOSE, Calif., January 15, 2010 – eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) quickly mobilized employees and its community to begin donation drives that benefit Haiti earthquake victims, leveraging a business model that integrates fundraising in its core shopping and payments experience.
“Our hearts go out to the millions of people who will no doubt be affected by the devastating earthquake in Haiti,” said John Donahoe, CEO of eBay Inc. “Clearly, it will require a massive humanitarian effort to help the country recover … and through our businesses, we are galvanizing our employees and consumers to aid in those efforts.”
The eBay Foundation has implemented a special gift-matching program through Feb. 28 for global employees who want to make a charitable contribution to organizations providing rescue and relief efforts in Haiti. In addition, the eBay Foundation is providing $100,000 USD to support rescue and relief efforts underway, joining employees in supporting three organizations working in the region: American Red Cross, Save the Children and Oxfam.
“eBay has 89 million buyers and sellers worldwide and PayPal has 78 million active accounts,” said Donahoe. “This puts us in a unique position to drive relief donation through our communities. And we are.”
- PayPal is waiving the payment processing fees for donations to Save the Children for the next 30 days and has implemented onsite placements – including on the PayPal homepage – where people can click to donate.
- On ebay.com, people can buy, sell and/or make cash donations via a dedicated landing page, with proceeds going to Save the Children, The American Red Cross, and other nonprofits involved in the Haiti relief effort.
- Buyers can also donate through Give@Checkout on ebay.com. For a limited time, when buyers purchase an item on ebay.com in the U.S. and the U.K., they can donate during checkout to one of several charitable organizations focused on relief and recovery. Through this feature, the eBay community raised $50 million in 2009, showcasing the power of everyday donors to drive large-scale impact.
Already, the eBay community is having an impact, raising nearly $130,000 USD through cash donations and Give@Checkout during a two-day period. (UPDATE AS OF JAN. 24: More than $1 million USD raised). “The most incredible thing to me is that most donations were less than $5,” said Donahoe. “That’s the power of eBay: small, individual actions at scale can drive an enormous amount of good in the world.”
About eBay Inc.
Founded in 1995 in San Jose, Calif., eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) connects millions of buyers and sellers globally on a daily basis through eBay, the world's largest online marketplace, and PayPal, which enables individuals and businesses to securely, easily and quickly send and receive online payments. We also reach millions through specialized marketplaces such as StubHub, the world's largest ticket marketplace, and eBay Classifieds sites, which together have a presence in more than 1,000 cities around the world. For more information about the company and our global portfolio of online brands, visit www.ebayinc.com.