eBay for Charity: Buzz-building, special auctions, social networks

Nick Aldridge, CEO, MissionFish

eBay for Charity

• Helps charities raise funds on eBay, by

– Enabling charities of all sizes to raise funds by trading in the eBay marketplace.

– Giving over 20 million eBay.co.uk users a secure and efficient way of donating a percentage of their sales to charity.

• The programme is managed by eBay and MissionFish, a registered charity, in partnership.

A promising start…

•Over 3000 charities have signed up for the programme

• £8m raised in 3 years– £11,000 raised every day

– 30,000-40,000 charity listings live at any time

www.missionfish.org.uk

How charities use eBay for Charity

From the biggest charities…

• Oxfam has raised over £1m by bringing its national network of shops onto eBay for Charity

• The GOSH Charity has raised over £150,000 through special auctions, and by encouraging its supporters to donate

To the smallest…

• The Wild Trout Trust has raised over £120,000 through an annual auction of fishing experiences

• The Hampton Hill School has raised almost £20,000 through sales of celeb memorabilia and their supporters/PTA’s

Ewan Macgregor’s motorbike: £20k raised

Celebrity spectacles for Sightsavers

Hunger and plates

The eBay community as a social network

• Feedback (reputation) is the currency, and therefore source of much debate

• Posts per month run into 100,000s, with several new UK threads every minute at peak times

• Some users spend a huge amount of time on the board, and are very passionate about eBay

Voices from the eBay community…

Some golden rules for “community support officers”

It’s good to talk:

• Engage whenever you can add some useful facts, advice or support: your presence will be welcomed

• Active board posters are often experts, and can be a useful source of advice and feedback for you, as well as other community members

• Correct conspiracy theories, however outlandish, and explain/ defend your motives

• React calmly to criticism, and even abuse: but make standards clear and don’t tolerate inappropriate tone/comments

However…

• Be efficient and deal with the core issue: don’t engage in 100 detailed conversations

• Don’t take things personally: you are seen as the “voice of the organisation”

• If you edit/moderate, you’re responsible for what remains up

• Don’t overpromise, or break promises, about what you can do to solve problems

• Sometimes it’s best to let sleeping dogs lie… (if they have all moved on, so should you)

“Viral marketing”: Scarlett Johansson’s special auction

Scarlett Johansson | used tissue | eBay auction | snot rag | Jay ...http://www.fooqu.com/

OWN TISSUE FROM SCARLETT JOHANSSON & SAM JACKSON - eBay (item ...http://tvblips.dailyradar.com/

Bid For Scarlett Johansson’s Used Tissue On eBay | TopNews United http://topnews.us/

Center for Disease Control Weighs in on Used Tissue Sales on eBay http://www.auctionbytes.com

Scarlett Johansson's Tissue Is Precious

http://socialitelife.celebuzz.com/

Scarlett Johansson Snotty Tissue on Ebay - AllDeaf.com

http://www.alldeaf.com/

Fansites and Facebook

• Facebook etc. are “just a marketing channel” –traffic rather than transactions. – The most popular eBay application on

Facebook has 5,000 active users. eBay and Facebook each have 100,000,000s.

• Targeted fansites reap higher rewards for specific campaigns/associations

• New initiatives tend to be drastically overhyped, so are worthwhile!

Next step: donor recognition

Why give through eBay for Charity?

-Easy and automatic

-Marketing incentives

-Cost-effective

-What else…?

Judging online fundraising opportunities

There are plenty around, so it’s fair to be discerning.

Ask whether it brings…

1) Something of relevance to most of your potential supporters

2) An additional source of traffic

3) A recognised/trusted brand, platform or site

4) Marketing clout and resources

5) A genuinely additional way of interacting with supporters

Maximising online fundraising opportunities

Five big trends in online fundraising:

1) Stories, not annual reports

2) Engage and explain, then fundraise

3) From walled garden to public park: beyond your own website

4) Integrate the online work – it needs to fit your overall message

5) Use partners to reach new audiences

Passion, Persistence and Partnership: MissionFish, IoF, nfpSynergy

15,000 copies downloaded from www.missionfish.org.uk

eBay for Charity: Buzz-building, special auctions, and social networks

Nick Aldridge, CEO, MissionFish