BiddingForGood
BiddingForGood, Inc. provides fundraising services to nonprofit organizations. The company follows the online auction business model similar to that of eBay, with a focus on the growing segment of charities that use online fundraising . The main service is a Web interface where nonprofits can set up branded websites for their auctions. Also provided is Biddingforgood.com, a website for consumers where charities receive the proceeds from the user's purchases .
AbOUT
BiddingForGood is the leading cause-related e-commerce platform connecting consumers and marketers to non-profit fundraising auction events. The Company is one of several similar ventures that includes eBay Giving (operated by MissionFish), BenefitAuctions.com, and Charity Folks. The company is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts and was founded in 2003. The idea for the service came following a Jimmy Fund live auction event, when it occurred to one participant that the auction items there would have a wider appeal beyond the attendees of that particular live event. Since then, the company has partnered with organizations including the United Way of America and the Muscular Dystrophy Association as part of their online fundraising efforts.
Online auctions powered by BiddingForGood have generated close to $100 million for non-profit organizations by allowing them to expand their bidder universe and access a new source of items. Clients can secure more items by delivering a stronger and more measureable marketing value to item donors to ultimately raise more money from more participants as well as BiddingForGood’s donated item program. The company works with dozens of brand marketers through a unique product advertising program to enable them to efficiently reach affluent donors just as they are spending in a trusted environment.
BiddingForGood charges an annual hosting fee for use of its auction software, as well as a percentage of the net online auction proceeds. Similar to other auction websites, users must register to bid, and winning bids are charged to the winner's credit card .
Auctions of note through the BiddingForGood portal have included George Clooney’s Academy Awards gift bag and celebrity autographed staplers benefiting the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. The auction portal also serves as the online auction home for the annual Muscular Dystrophy Association fundraiser .
The company officially changed its name from cMarket, Inc. to BiddingForGood, Inc. on November 23, 2009.
This cause marketplace can be experienced at BiddingForGood.
Online Auction Behavior Study
In 2007, the company released a study on charitable bidding based on the habits of 25,000 participants. Results from the study noted that the majority of bidders in Internet fundraising auctions are female, affluent, averaging in 41 years of age, are online once a day or more, and found electronics and home goods to be the most appealing auction items .