eBay Giving Works - Listing for Charity

I decided I should set up some listings to raise money for charity. My family donates to charities on a regular basis, but this was something I could do myself, using items I had made to raise the money. eBay sellers can create listings to raise money using the eBay Giving Works program, which is administered by Mission fish. My initial reaction when I first read about the giving works program was that Mission fish would take too much of the money, and that I should just do it on my own. But there are advantages to using Mission fish and the reality was I was not doing it on my own, so I decided to just jump in and do it! Any charity fundraiser in real life is likely to have administrative costs, so I will accept the costs of doing the fundraising on eBay.

So, I jumped in last night and set up my first charity auction, this one benefitting The Autism Society of America. Many of the wonderful people I have met since I started selling on eBay are dealing with the effects of autism in the life of a child in their family. This seemed like a way for me to show support for them. The list of available charities is huge, and you can search by location to find a charity that is near where you live.

I sent a store item to auction, and then went in to try and add the charity designation...Oops! You have to register with Mission Fish before you can add the charity! Off I went to register, then still no way to add the charity. The secret seems to be that you need to start a new listing after you register. Therefore if you sign up and want to start a listing right away, make a new listing designating the Mission Fish charity of your choice and then end the old listing!

Here is the item I listed last night:

I have decided to run one item a week for charity. I set up a category just for Charity Auctions in my store, Maggie's Handcraft Studio. I think for a while, I will rotate through a number of charities- there are so many worthy causes to choose from!

If you are thinking about testing the waters by doing some fundraising using eBay's Giving Works, come on in, the water's fine!