Let's start with a brief overview of eBay Giving Works, for those who are new to the program. Those of you who have joined us for previous workshops may already be familiar with the basics that we are about to cover, but we encourage you to follow along with us to learn about some of the recent changes we've implemented.

As many of you know, eBay Giving Works is eBay's dedicated program for charity listings. With eBay Giving Works, sellers can donate part or all of their final sales price to their favorite nonprofit organization, and buyers can shop for items that support causes that are important to them.

Many sellers have discovered that incorporating "cause marketing" (marketing that is aligned with a specific cause to position a business positively in customers' eyes) with eBay Giving Works has given a boost to their businesses. On average, eBay Giving Works listings tend to attract more bids, close at higher prices, and generate increased customer loyalty.

In addition, eBay Giving Works rewards your generosity! Earlier this month, we introduced the eBay Giving Works Fee Credit Policy. When you create an eBay Giving Works listing and the item sells, eBay will credit your basic selling fees (Insertion and Final Value Fees) back to you, equal to the percentage you elected donate.

We mentioned MissionFish in the post above. MissionFish is a certified nonprofit we partnered with to be the dedicated solution provider for the eBay Giving Works program. They perform several valuable services, including:

• Powering the nonprofit directory for eBay Giving Works
  
• Verifying that nonprofits are eligible for this program
  
• Collecting and disbursing sellers' donations
  
• Providing sellers with tax receipts
  
• Tracking sellers' donations online

One more point of clarification before we tell you about Spotlight On a Cause: throughout the workshop, we may use the term "Community Selling."

There are two types of charity listing activity:

• Community Selling: this is when individuals sell to support a certified nonprofit
  
• Direct Selling: this is when nonprofits sell on their own behalf (after they have entered their eBay User ID in their Nonprofit My MissionFish account as a Direct Seller). In this scenario, the nonprofit receives the funds directly from the buyer, and MissionFish does not process any of the donations resulting from the sales.
  

We will be focusing exclusively on Community Selling in this workshop, but you can learn more about Direct Selling by visiting the Nonprofit Information page on eBay Giving Works.

This October, in support of Breast Cancer Awareness month, eBay Giving Works spotlights the fight against breast cancer. Breast cancer accounts for nearly one of every three cancers diagnosed among U.S. women, and unfortunately, chances are you or someone you know has been affected by this disease. But you have the power to make a difference in this fight: you can support one of the many organizations dedicated to this cause by simply selling or buying items that benefit one of these organizations.

To participate in this month's Spotlight cause, be sure to select one of the relevant breast cancer-related nonprofits when creating your eBay Giving Works listing. You can find a complete list by clicking on the "Sell" tab on the Spotlight On Breast Cancer Awareness page.

This concludes our presentation of the content we have prepared for you today. We know you must have questions, so please feel free to post them now, and we will spend the remainder of the workshop time on Q&A.

Will you be listing all charity items in this eBay Store? If so, here are a few things to keep in mind:

• In the store description, be sure to mention that these items are eBay Giving Works items, and that part of the final sale price will be donated to charity. If there is a specific charity you will be donating to exclusively, it would be a good idea to mention it--your customers will then be aware of the cause you support.
  
• If this is a separate store you are creating, think about giving the name a distinctive name that lets people know these items will be sold to support charities. Again, this is another good way to let your buyers know that you are supporting a cause (or several causes).
  
• As far as creating eBay Giving Works listings in the Store Inventory format, you can follow the same steps I outlined above. When you are creating your listings via the Sell-Your-Item form, be sure to select a nonprofit and a donation percentage to commit to. Your listing will automatically contain the name of the organization and the donation percentage--you won't have to add this information in your listings!
  
  

  Hope this helps!