eBay for Charity
An eBay for Charity Story: Turning a New Page
More Than Words helps fund the futures of Boston youth through selling books on eBay for Charity.
By: Francesca Hellebrandt, eBay News Team
Celebrating Our Community
Thank you to our community of buyers, sellers and charities. Together, we’ve raised over $1 billion ahead of our 2020 goal to support important causes.
eBay hosts one of the world’s largest and most active giving communities. Every time you buy or sell it’s an opportunity to support causes that matter most.
Find and “favorite” your top nonprofit organizations to create a customized shopping experience. Give to your favorite charity when you checkout, and shop Gifts that Give Back to share virtual giving with people you love. Support your chosen charity when you sell on eBay and we’ll waive listing fees equal to your donation percentage.
For nonprofits, eBay is an always-on fundraising engine. Attract new donors and raise essential funds by direct selling on our platform. Or let us help activate your major influencers, celebrities, and brands to create unique and awareness-driving high-profile campaigns.
Empowering People and Communities
To celebrate the $1 billion milestone, eBay partnered with three sellers from around the U.S. to create a new video series that spotlights how a single purchase on eBay for Charity can have a positive ripple effect among charities, its recipients and their local communities.
Turning a New Page
More Than Words | Mehki Jordan | Boston, Massachusetts
Mehki Jordan came to More Than Words seeking a renewed sense of hope. He was unemployed, had dropped out of school and had been hanging out with the wrong crowd. When a street altercation led to him almost losing his arm, Mehki decided to make a change in his life.
More Than Words is a Boston-based bookseller and social enterprise that teaches nearly 400 at-risk youth the skills needed to become successful in today’s workplace.
At More Than Words, Mehki finds a sense of empowerment and camaraderie among his colleagues. He now works as the business training manager at the bookstore’s Waltham, Massachusetts, location.
Stories like Mehki’s sit at the very heart of the eBay for Charity program. Since 2003, eBay for Charity has empowered consumers to make an impact by enabling them to support their favorite charities and causes when they buy or sell on eBay.
More Than Just a Second Chance
Goodwill San Francisco | Patrick Quiroz | San Francisco, California
For Patrick Quiroz, working at Goodwill San Francisco is more than just a second chance — it’s where he finds a sense of community and empowerment.
Before joining Goodwill, Patrick had difficulty getting hired due to his legal record. After completing the Goodwill Industries Job Training Program, Patrick worked his way up to become the Assistant Ecommerce Manager at Goodwill's San Francisco location. He now oversees the shipping departments within the South San Francisco warehouse.
Through eBay for Charity, Goodwill San Francisco is able to fund its Job Training Program and give back to those like Patrick, who are in need of a second chance. The program spans work readiness, vocational training, and support services to address barriers standing in the way of individual success.
A Little More Good in the World
Africa Direct | Elizabeth Bennett | Denver, Colorado
In the 90s, Elizabeth Bennett and her wife Sara set off on an eight-month trek across southern Africa with their three youngest children in tow to explore the countries’ culture and local communities. They crisscrossed Lesotho, Mozambique, Botswana and Swaziland in a used food van converted into a camper. Over the course of their 15,000-mile journey, they collected African art and wares that they started selling on eBay to help raise funds to benefit local communities in Africa.
Through eBay for Charity, Elizabeth’s online store Africa Direct supports charities that work to reduce poverty in local communities across Africa. Not only that, her business also supports African traders by connecting them to eBay’s global marketplace.
By The Numbers
$102M
Raised in 2018
83,500
Charities enrolled
$1B
Raised since 2003
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There are thousands of young people across the UK who have what it takes to run their own business. With access to the right support they can make their dreams a reality, and thanks to the support of businesses like eBay, The Trust is able to provide the practical and financial help they need to succeed.
Nonprofit Partnerships The Prince’s Trust UK
What a difference a day can make in the lives of young people. In just 24 hours, the eBay UK community raised over £105,000 (about $138,000) for The Prince’s Trust to help aspiring entrepreneurs, age 18-30 years old, turn their business ideas into reality.
There are thousands of young people across the UK who have what it takes to run their own business. With access to the right support they can make their dreams a reality, and thanks to the support of businesses like eBay, The Trust is able to provide the practical and financial help they need to succeed.
eBay UK’s 2018 Give Day in October kicked off a new 12-month partnership between eBay and The Prince’s Trust. For every item purchased on the platform on October 9, eBay UK donated 5p (about 5 cents), and multiple items netted a 10p (about 10 cents) automatic donation. The community raised enough in 24 hours to fund nearly 2,000 hours of expert mentoring through The Prince’s Trust’s Enterprise program.
Since 1983, The Prince’s Trust has helped more than 85,000 young people into business. Its Enterprise program teaches business basics to potential entrepreneurs, as well as helping them write a business plan, test their idea, and gain access to funding.
To help grow the existing businesses The Prince’s Trust supports through its Tomorrow’s Store, eBay for Charity also onboarded select businesses to eBay.co.uk. And we teamed up with some of The Prince’s Trust’s celebrity Ambassadors, including Phillip Schofield and Emma Willis, to auction exclusive meet-and-greet celebrity events and experiences, with 100% of proceeds going to The Trust’s Enterprise program.
“The next generation are the future of our economy, and with over 200,000 small businesses already trading on eBay⎯we want to grow this number by focusing on empowering 18-30 year olds in need of help and support, to start and run businesses in the way they want to,” said Rob Hattrell, Vice President of eBay.
Visit The Prince’s Trust on eBay.
We are very grateful to eBay and Jake Tapper, along with his celebrity team, for hosting our auction again. Initiatives like this raise crucial awareness about our mission and help us place more deserving severely injured post-9/11 Veterans into the specially adapted homes they deserve.
High Profile Campaigns Homes for Our Troops
The stars were out Veterans Day 2018 to rally support for Homes For Our Troops, a nonprofit that builds and donates specially adapted custom homes for severely injured post-9/11 veterans—raising more than $160,000 during a 10-day auction on eBay.
We are very grateful to eBay and Jake Tapper, along with his celebrity team, for hosting our auction again. Initiatives like this raise crucial awareness about our mission and help us place more deserving severely injured post-9/11 Veterans into the specially adapted homes they deserve.
Led by CNN's Jake Tapper, a longtime HFOT supporter and mission ambassador, along with celebrities Ben Stiller and Kenny Chesney, the campaign attracted support from other Hollywood movie stars and entertainment icons.
Actor George Clooney donated his brand new 2017 Dresser Touring Ultra Limited FLHTK Harley Davidson after swearing off two wheels following a scooter crash months earlier. The donated Dresser Touring bike netted $48,989 to support HFOT.
The more than 40 donated items and VIP experiences in the eBay auction included an afternoon in Manhattan and lunch with Tapper and Paul Rudd, a personalized guitar and meet-and-greet with Chesney, and a tennis match with Owen Wilson. Jake Gyllenhaal contributed tickets for his off-Broadway production Sea Wall/A Life, and Judd Apatow offered to bring a winning bidder onto the set of his latest project. Jimmy Kimmel, Jason Bateman, Steph Curry, and Anderson Cooper also contributed items for the auction.
You are impacting people's lives. You might not realize it, but every dollar that you spend with Goodwill actually goes to impact somebody's life.
Direct selling for causes Seattle Goodwill
It didn’t take long for Seattle Goodwill to realize the value of augmenting their brick-and-mortar stores with online selling on eBay. From their first listing in 2002, Seattle Goodwill saw their higher value donations selling on eBay for 10 to 100 times their in-store price tag.
You are impacting people's lives. You might not realize it, but every dollar that you spend with Goodwill actually goes to impact somebody's life.
Today the nonprofit curates its online inventory from across its 24 retail locations, listing about 600 new items a day and employing 45 people to support its online charity shop. Proceeds from the eBay store directly support free job training and education programs that help low income people become self-sufficient through work.
“If you're buying an item for $10, it's a great bargain that also goes to help somebody else learn computer skills, learn the English language, and learn customer service so they have the tools to actually find a job,” said Amina Ahnach, e-commerce manager at Seattle Goodwill.
Lazon Campbell is one person whose life has been impacted by Seattle Goodwill. Facing his own barriers to employment, Lazon heard about Goodwill’s job training program while visiting his local Seattle Goodwill retail store. Today, he’s employed as a customer service representative with the nonprofit, tasked with making in-store announcements to inspire others.
Meet Eden Chan
Eden is the lead staffer for Special Events, Civic and Social Innovation at the GLIDE Foundation in San Francisco. GLIDE is a social justice movement, social service provider, and spiritual community serving people of the Tenderloin and San Francisco. Since 2003, eBay has hosted the annual Power Lunch with Warren Buffett Charity Auction, which benefits the GLIDE Foundation.
