“Social responsibility” and “Cause Marketing” are the latest buzz words for successful businesses that want to give a little back to society. In reality all it takes is a desire to help and there are many reasons for doing so, often deeply personal to those who are involved.
Clam Lorenz, Director of Operations at MissionFish.
In the last couple of days I’ve stumbled across a couple of worthy endeavours on eBay.
Maternity Worldwide
The first is our friend Dan Wilson who has set up an eBay user ID to benefit Maternity Worldwide. On offer is the “Ultimate Mother’s Day Gift” – sponsoring a safe birth in an African country. Dan explains on his blog that his own mother, a midwife, spent six months in Gimbie, Ethiopia working for Maternity Worldwide.
I personally purchased one of these for my mother today and telephoned her to let her know that she’ll be receiving a sponsorship certificate, instead of flowers this year. Her reaction was that it was “A wonderful present” and she was more pleased then flowers could ever make her! If you’re still wondering about a mothers day present please do think about sponsoring a birth on behalf of your mother.
Artisans Direct
Andrew and Kirsten Dudley were inspired to help after speaking with several South American and African crafts people at a recent show on international trade. They were shocked to learn about the layers and layers of middlemen and the subsequent price increases involved in moving a single piece of craft from their workplace to a customer’s home in say New York or London.
The Dudleys who run the postalsupplies on eBay, recognised the crafts people were earning a fraction of the true sale price and decided to do something about it. From their base in Liverpool, Artisans Direct has been established to act as a direct conduit between the Artisan and the end user while ensuring that the Artisans receive an above market price and more importantly a share of the net profits. They listed their first craft items from Africa yesterday.
eBay for Charity
For those wishing to help worthy causes MissionFish powers eBay for Charity to make things easy. Any seller can easily list items with a percentage (or all) of the profits going to the charity of their choice. Giving to charity not only assists those in need, but companies seen to be active gain recognition and loyalty from their customers.
Comic Relief
Finally don’t forget that you can also support Comic Relief on eBay, both as a seller and as a buyer. As well as the celebrity Comic Relief items there are 100’s of auctions to bid on listed by eBay sellers. You can also buy the Comic Relief DVD, and of course it’s not too late to list some auctions yourself.
