eBay
eBay, the first e-commerce company to win the Cause Marketing Forum’s coveted Golden Halo, is being honored for a program launched, like CMF, in 2003: eBay Giving Works.
Giving Works makes it convenient for people to raise money for their favorite causes on eBay through several avenues: Sellers can donate a percentage of anything they sell up to 100 per-cent—and get that same percentage off their listing fees; buyers can add a donation to any purchase; anyone can make an immediate cash donation; and nonprofits can sell directly—with all fees waived—to raise funds.
It’s an outstanding example of a cause initiative that is deeply integrated into a company’s operations and that generates significant business and social dividends.
For example:
- eBay buyers and sellers raised $54.8 million for nonprofits in 2010 and have generated nearly $250 million in donations since the program’s inception.
- Market research indicates the program is a boon to sellers.
- On average, buyers pay 2 percent to 6 percent more for items that benefit charity as indicated by displaying the blue and yellow Giving Works ribbon.
- Cause ties have attracted many new buyers and sellers to eBay over the years.
Giving Works is just one part of eBay’s Global Citizenship portfolio of programs, which includes initiatives to enable the eBay community to sell and buy more sustain- ably, a global marketplace for environmentally and socially responsible shopping, the eBay Foundation and a microfinance organization.
For embedding giving into the world’s largest online marketplace, for sharing proof that doing well and doing good can go hand in hand in cyberspace and for helping thousands of nonprofits raise hundreds of millions of dollars, the Cause Marketing Forum honors eBay with the 2011 Cause Marketing Golden Halo Award for Business.
