cMarket/BiddingForGood, the leading online auction platform connecting charity auctions, marketers, and affluent consumers announced today that it has passed $70 Million in gross merchandise sales supporting non-profits across the US.  Even more impressively, $22.4 Million (32%) of this number was raised just over the past 12 months. In addition, the number of charities running online auctions increased by 23% over last year showing the continued migration of silent auctions online during the economic downturn.  Other highlights include;

• There are now in excess of 130,000 bidders in biddingforgood.com. In August these bidders drove an incremental 30% of bids for clients. These bidders are typically affluent, female baby boomers who shop for themselves and for gifts for friends and family.
• The company now has 42 merchants providing over $5 million of donated items to its non-profit client auctions in return for marketing visibility and reporting. These clients include Thomas Cook Travel, DKNY, Four Seasons, Dancing Deer, and Curves.
• cMarket/BiddingForGood now has over 6,500 completed auctions in its database giving unique insight into both auction best practices but also consumer preferences by item category and by brand.
• The company has over a dozen commercial item donors in its beta program for its unique Auction Item Request System (AIRS).

These numbers signify a continuing shift in nonprofits to adapt to the economic recession by moving their fundraising events online and to take advantage of increased bidder reach, newly available donated items and better measurability. BiddingForGood attributes its growth to strong upward sales and an increasing interest from top brands to become part of a cutting edge marketing program offered by the company.

According to Jon Carson, CEO of cMarket/BiddingForGood, all areas of the company are seeing growth as the supply and demand model of auctions draws various sectors together, including product and service vendors (supply) and affluent, cause minded consumers (demand).  The company’s auction platform is a major player within the $16 billion charity auction market. Carson says, “The online auction network has evolved into a sophisticated triangle where charities, item donors, and consumers all benefit from each other, and the more they do, the more successful it becomes. With over 130,000 active bidders and millions of dollars of donated items the value proposition to charities is becoming more and more of an easy decision.”

cMarket/BiddingForGood works with 40 of the 100 most recognizable non-profits brands in addition to numerous well known institutions including Muscular Dystrophy Association, Menlo School, South Beach Food & Wine Festival, Harvard Westlake School, Yale School of Management, and many, many others. Carson says, “We believe that we are seeing the death of the silent auction. If you want to raise money it makes no sense to hold an auction in the middle of a lively party. It suppresses all the key competitive arousal dynamics that are so important to good auction outcomes”.

The ability to offer clients thousands of dollars of donated items is a direct result of the successful BiddingForGood’s product placement marketing program. This new marketing program boasts some leading “A list” brands including Thomas Cook Travel, DKNY Jeans, Reebok Outlets, Four Seasons Hotels, Kimpton Hotels, and Dancing Deer.  The program consists of brands donating items or gift cards to be placed into the auctions in return for valuable exposure, paying customers, measurable marketing data and quantifiable marketing ROI. The more products in the auctions, the more bidders will bid and the more money goes to charities.

The BiddingForGood 2009 calendar has included multiple multi-million dollar agreements including a recent $1.5 million deal with LVI/Thomas Cook, as well as the addition of nationally recognized Four Seasons hotelier Robin Brown, principal at CWB Boylston, LLC, instrumental in the development of Mandarin Oriental- Boston, to the Board of Directors.

It is well known that travel items are some of the most sought after items when it comes to fundraising auctions.  In order to maximize your fundraising revenue, try to find unique travel experiences and/or all inclusive travel packages.  I find that when bidding on travel in efforts to raise funds, people bid because they want to support a cause, are getting a great deal, or are getting a truly unique experience that can’t be found or purchased anywhere else.

For example, one of the upcoming auctions on BiddingForGood will feature a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go on an all-expense paid trip to one of three Dr Pepper Championship Games. This is an all-inclusive package with a choice of one of the following games: ACC Dr Pepper Championship Game in Tampa, The DP BIG 12 Championship Game in Arlington, TX or the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta, GA.

The experience includes round trip airfare and transportation for two, deluxe hotel accommodations for two nights, Dr. Pepper exclusive welcome reception, breakfast on Saturday and Sunday, exclusive pre-game party, two tickets to selected championship game, transportation to all planned events and a welcome gift.

If you find that you don’t have access to items this grand in scale, try to make your travel items that you do have access to more unique.  Let’s say you are auctioning off a two night stay in a luxurious hotel, try contacting the hotel to see if there is anything that they can do to make the stay more exclusive. This might include a private dinner that is personally prepared by the in-house chef, complimentary bottles of wine/champagne, or a complimentary service at the hotel spa.  Find out what is available in proximity to the hotel such as horse stables and maybe add free riding lessons to the stay. There are endless possibilities when trying to make travel items unique.

Although we are always thankful for whatever we can get our hands on when it comes to donated items, a little extra effort can go a long way from making an everyday travel item into a truly unique experience that can drive the bidding price up.

cMarket/BiddingForGood, the leading online auction platform solely for organizations engaged in fundraising for nonprofit causes, announced today that Celebrity (Ellen DeGeneres and Eva Longoria) Wedding Planner, Mindy Weiss, is auctioning off an Exclusive Package with proceeds going to the Muscular Dystrophy Association, in conjunction with the 44^th Annual Jerry Lewis Telethon broadcasting on Sept 6^th and Sept 7th.  The BiddingForGood auction will start on Sept 1^st and will end Sept 15^th.

Mindy Weiss is one of the most sought-after wedding and party planners in America and is a top choice among celebrities for wedding planners. She is known for creating weddings and events for clients such as Eva Longoria and Tony Parker, Heidi Klum and Seal, Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale, Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey, Jackie and Adam Sandler, Shaunie and Shaquille O’Neal, Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen, and Kate Beckinsale and Len Weisman.

Her package, worth around $4,000, includes:

 -10 hours of consulting personally by Mindy Weiss ($3,000)

-$250 towards invitations by Lehr & Black

-$500 towards flowers by Mark Gardner

-A bottle of Cristal

-And five pounds of See’s Candies

Mindy has been featured on a variety of television shows and networks, including The Dr. Phil Show, E! Entertainment Television, Entertainment Tonight, KTLA-TV, MTV, The Today Show, VH1, and a special segment on The Learning Channel. In addition, an estimated 17 million viewers saw her as the wedding planner on ABC’s Trista & Ryan’s Wedding, when the famed couple from The Bachelorette tied the knot. Mindy and her events have also been featured in numerous publications.

cMarket/BiddingForGood, the leading online auction platform connecting charity auctions, consumers, and commercial item donors, has successfully implemented their interactive Auction Item Request System (AIRS) to companies to manage item donor programs.  This system allows for item requests to be handled directly through the company’s website, with significantly reduced administrative resources, all while giving a professional experience to the item donor. AIRS offers benefits such as good community relations, professionalism, and a tracking service bound to help a company’s bottom line.

 Restaurants, hotels and Spas, are often hit up for free donated items for the sake of non-profit fundraising, some receiving hundreds of requests a month for donated items.  Companies handling these types of requests would be able to track much exposure they get in return for a donation, how much time is spent handling these requests, how much is actually being given away and just how much business is being generated by these donated items.   Tracking this type of information can be time consuming and is normally is put on a forever backburner.

 UpStairs on the Square, a nationally recognized restaurant located in Cambridge, MA, has been one of the first to implement the system and has started to track the amount of requests they receive, the requests that have been approved or declined, what type of request, what type of organizations have requested items and what percentage of the items donated are being used for specific purposes.  They have a dashboard of all their request information, including monthly tracking charts all in one place.

 “We are so pleased at the way our item/donor request system through cMarket/BiddingForGood is working for us and our management team. Not only does the system give us an organized view of evaluating donation requests and fulfilling them in an orderly and timely way, but it also helps us to keep track over the year how much and what we have donated and to whom. We have gone from an anecdotal and disorganized system of donations to one we feel in control of. It also sends inquiring minds to our website—always a good thing. We recommend it highly for all those restaurateurs who often felt, as we did, overwhelmed by the number of requests, and how to handle them” says Mary-Catherine Deibel, owner of Upstairs on the Square.

 As easy as it is for the restaurants to use the system, it is just as user friendly for the person making the request.  Organizations can visit the restaurant’s website, click on the item request link, and this will bring them to a form where they can easily complete their type of request.  The system immediately sends the organization an email acknowledging the request and telling them when they will be back in touch avoiding the problem of organizations feeling like they don’t know where they stand. “The professionalism is a key part of the value”, says Chris Parsons, owner of Catch, another nationally recognized Boston restaurant that uses the system.

 The system notifies the restaurant of the request and then allows them an approval letter or letter of decline, in a timely fashion.  For those requests which are denied, not all is lost. Within the response letter is an offer from BiddingForGood to find donated items for them.  The organization will then have an opportunity to run an online auction with BiddingForGood, using supplied donated items, including many luxury brands, in efforts to raise funds for their organization.

 The program has had a welcomed reception by all those using the system as of date.  The system literally takes moments to set up and offers tracking that would normally take hours to do on a weekly basis. “Charity auction requests are one of the most inefficient parts of my job. I’m glad a system has come along to make this administrative headache go away” says Sean Reardon, VP Marketing, Liberty Hotel, currently using the AIRS system.

August 17, 2009—Cambridge, Ma; cMarket/BiddingForGood, the leading online auction platform solely for organizations engaged in fundraising for nonprofit causes, will soon launch their new national online auction in conjunction with the 44th Annual Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon. The auction, powered by cMarket, features an array of celebrity packed items and more, with all proceeds benefiting the Muscular Dystrophy Association.  The auction will run from Sept. 1-15^th and surrounds the Telethon to be broadcasted live from Las Vegas, on Sunday, Sept. 6^th and Sept. 7^th.

This year’s online auction will include hundreds of items in an array of categories including celebrity memorabilia, travel excursions, electronics, gift cards and much more. Some celebrity items include tours and lunches with stars of Days of Our Lives and General Hospital, legendary ventriloquist Terry Fator VIP tickets with a meet and greet in Las Vegas, Access Hollywood backstage tour, and Country Singer Neal McCoy concert tickets and meet and greet.

In 2008, BiddingForGood raised an extra $580,000 for the MDA, bringing the total pledges and donations to the Telethon to a record-breaking $65 million. This was the first national auction for the Association. Included among the over 3,800 items donated and placed up for bid by celebrity Telethon performers and friends of the Association were tickets to a Broadway performance of “Grease” that included dinner with Ace Young who stared as Kenicki in the musical, a Grand Ole Opry VIP trip with country music star Tracy Lawrence, and a VIP Package to the 2009 Jerry Lewis Telethon. Other large scale items in the auction were in conjunction with Harley-Davidson’s 105^th anniversary and included a custom Fender guitar, which fetched the highest bid at over $35,000. Overall, nearly 20,000 bids were placed.

“We are pleased that last year’s auction proved to be such a success and are looking forward to yet another successful year” says Jon Carson, CEO of cMarket/BiddingForGood. Carson adds “The MDA auction is truly a prime example of how running an online auction in conjunction with a live fundraising event, can boost the amount of funds raised dramatically.” “We hope the MDA’s online auction will help make for another record breaking year.”

To check out the online auction to support this telethon, please visit http://www.cmarket.com/auction/AuctionHome.action?auctionId=82215015. The Telethon will highlight MDA’s cutting-edge scientific research seeking cures and treatments for the more than 40 neuromuscular diseases in MDA’s program. Also in the spotlight will be the Association’s healthcare programs, which provide support groups, accessible summer camps, help with obtaining and repairing expensive medical equipment, and more than 200 clinics around the country.

About MDA            

MDA is the nonprofit health agency dedicated to curing muscular dystrophy, ALS and related diseases by funding worldwide research. The Association also provides comprehensive health care and support services, advocacy and education.

Consumers, especially in the US, have noticed product placement on popular television shows and hit movies; one may have recognized their favorite cereal box on “Seinfeld” or coffee mug on “Friends”.   As consumers are still continually blasted with an overwhelming amount of advertising, marketers have been forced to find other outlets to get their brand messages across and product placement is taking the lead.

Every year, marketers/advertisers set their annual budget which includes how they are going to allocate their funds to meet their branding needs.  Familiar vehicles such as placements in magazines and television spots are declining as online publications rise and DVR machines fast forward through those highly paid for 20 sec spots. These marketers have experimented with creative in-store displays, online advertising, streaming video, digital signage, a slue of social networks and of course, blogs, blogs, blogs.  Gone are the days of black and white print newspaper and magazine “inside cover” placement.

So what is so great about product placement? Let me address; on the consumer side, there is no “in your face” marketing/selling.  There is no screaming “buy this” and “buy that” (rest in peace Billy Maze).  There is less interruption of favorite programming and fewer advertisements in the middle of an article.  For marketers, there is an innovative vehicle to allow new targeted channels to exist.  There are creative ways to bring brands to market that don’t annoy consumers, and there is a way to actually have an ROI experience with marketing dollars.  Wait just one minute and I will repeat that. There is a way to actually have an ROI experience.  Hard metrics is something that has never been offered by traditional methods of advertising and marketers are jumping at the chance to be first in line to be part of this experience in the $16 billion charity auction market.

BiddingForGood, the leading online fundraising auction platform connecting charity auctions, consumers, and commercial item donors, already boast some “A list” luxury brands including LVI/Thomas Cook, DKNY Jeans, Reebok Outlets, Kimpton Hotels and The Taj Hotel. Items from these brands are placed within a program that is enriched with measureable ROI. “Because online charity auctions reach affluent consumers through their trusted causes just as they are making discretionary purchasing decisions, they are a highly measureable and experiential marketing channel”, says BiddingForGood CEO, Jon Carson. The “experiential marketing” program allows hundreds of thousands of affluent consumers to experience a brand with an average person spending over 30 seconds on a specially built microsite.

Successful online charity auction marketing programs involve a commercial entity providing sample items to be placed into live online auctions, enabling the marketer to reach category specific, affluent donors just at the time their spending decisions are being made. The client receives detailed reporting along with a losing bidder outreach program.

So, what is the difference between online charity auction product placement and product placement within the media?  When product placement exists in the media, such as in a blockbuster movie, the audience is there to engage their attention in the latest flick, in which marketers hope to gain some attention and brand recognition along the journey of the film.  How effective is this really?  I’m not quite sure and truly doubt I will ever know enough about it to write a white paper on the topic.  But what I do know is that when a product is placed in a marketing program within an online auction, the product is placed in an arena where it is being put in front of consumers just as they are making their buying decisions.  They are visiting the online auction platform to see what is available and to purchase items, not to watch a show. 

NBC is debuting a new series on June 24 called The Philanthropist, which “chronicles the heroic adventures of a billionaire playboy turned vigilante philanthropist. James Purefoy (”Rome”) stars as Teddy Rist, a successful tycoon whose life is forever changed after rescuing a young boy during a hurricane in the Nigerian town he was visiting. Rist is spontaneous and impulsive and quickly decides to channel his passion, power and money into helping those in need.”

I love the idea — a young, successful handsome man driven to use his ‘powers’ for good.  Who wouldn’t want to be Rist?  Well, hopefully the show will be a huge success and inspire a mass movement of doing good, sort of like everyone getting the Jennifer Aniston ‘Friends’ haircut.

That’s what shopping at BiddingForGood.com is all about.   There are thousands of everyday and unique products and services up for bid by reputable charities every day.  Shop there first for your next vacation deal, tickets to sporting and concert events, electronics, dining, etc.  You’ll get a good deal and the charity will get the proceeds.  Win/win.

You don’t have to be a billionaire to make a difference.  Need a few more ideas, here are a couple to start — do you know of any others?

BiddingForGood.com — a portal to online charity auctions where all the proceeds go to the organization.

FreeRice.com — donate rice to help end hunger by playing a word game.

JustGive.org — helps find a cause you care about with ideas for how to support.

TheBreastCancerSite.com — for each click of the pink ribbon, sponsors donate money for research and treatment.

I’d love to hear of other ideas.

It should be a surprise to nobody that securing items has never been harder in an economy where almost every hotel, restaurant, and merchant is down year over year. With less items to be had the competitive intensity is up. What to do?

Transform your “ask” from a charitable donation to a marketing ROI. Fundraising auctions have a ton of underlying marketing goodness but charitable organizations rarely deliver on this promise. Frequently we see auctions listed in www.biddingforgood.com that have item descriptions which deliver minimal marketing value for the vendor.

But fundraising auctions are a killer advertising/promotional channel for item donors to reach consumers. Specifically, auctions do three key things that marketers like;

• Fundraising auctions reach an attractive demographic. Bidders are on the whole noticeably more affluent than the general population which means they have more purchasing power
• Fundraising auctions reach these consumers through trusted causes these people support and care about
• And perhaps most importantly, fundraising auctions reach these consumers while their wallets are wide open.

To take advantage of these dynamics you should create a one-sheet that explains the marketing benefits of participating in your auction. Give a sense of the demographics of your constituency. List the most popular categories of items from last years auction (message; our people want what you have). In key categories like dining, entertainment, and travel try to estimate how much your constituency purchases in a year by estimating the typical average purchase and multiplying by the total constituency. This helps give the vendor a sense of the size of the market you are helping him/her reach.

The key point here is to make this a marketing/advertising pitch, not a charitable donation ask.

Finally, online fundraising auctions enable clickable links, multiple graphic images, and a much higher degree of measureability. For the marketer, online is where the eyeballs are going so putting your auction online only helps support their need to have a greater marketing presence on the internet.

It’s a tough economy out there, and local hotels, restaurants and other businesses that you depend on for donations to your auction catalog are feeling the pinch too.  With fewer paying customers, they have more capacity, and as a result, fewer dollars for marketing.  At the same time, more and more cause groups are coming seeking donations to fill their budget gaps.  Normally happy to support a good cause, local merchants are putting a cap on their contributions and increasingly looking for value for their donation.

By putting your auction online, you ensure that your item request rises to the top of the heap because you can provide measurable marketing results for their generosity in three valuable ways:

1.  Exposure — With a physical auction, their donation is limited to those at the gala at best. There’s only one winner and information on potential ‘losing bidders’ is lost.   But putting that same item online opens it to tens of thousands of qualified consumers. Based on 5,000 charity auctions, we know that the average online auction bidder is female, between 30 and 49 with a HHI exceeding $120K– a sweet spot for any marketer.  In the last four months alone, these consumers have diverted $6.2 million to charities by purchasing donated items online.

2.  Guaranteed customer – Without any effort or expense on their part, you’ve brought them a highly qualified, paying customer.  Once onsite, that customer is likely to bring friends, book another room night, spend money on room service, etc.

3.  Qualified leads – don’t forget all the other people who bid on that item!  These are potential customers who are interested and willing to pay for that item.  That’s invaluable marketing data to share with the donor that allows them to reach out to the ‘losing bidders’ and offer them perhaps a discount on a future visit.

There’s a host of other marketing benefits such as brand consistency, up-sells, click throughs, geo-targeting, and brand association with charitable causes.  By using the power of the internet to reach tens of thousands of customers and capture valuable analytics, you become a valuable marketing partner with a unique, highly effective and measurable marketing platform to give in exchange.

cMarket works with dozens of partners who are placing products in these auctions because of the strong marketing ROI.  To learn more about these items or for more information you can use to take on your ‘asks’, contact Lisa at marketing@cmarket.com.

Well, I was off by a few days.  Yesterday (not tomorrow as I predicted) we crossed the $65m mark. That’s about $5m in the last 30 days.

Not a bad way to make a living.