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Our Story
- In 1999, Sean Milliken was a fundraiser for Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta. He received endless offers of in-kind gifts (donated stuff), yet faced the same problems all nonprofits have dealing with them. He wondered:
- Why can't people donate anything they want (like stuff) to any nonprofit?
- Why isn't there an easy way for nonprofits to turn donated stuff into money?
- How can a small nonprofit get the same cause-marketing benefits that big nonprofits have?
- Inspired by eBay's popularity, he came up with an answer to his questions, and recruited a founding team to bring his idea to life.
- MissionFish was launched in 2000 as an online exchange where nonprofits could accept in-kind gifts, keep anything useful, and sell the rest. The result was a way to keep in-kind gifts from becoming "un-kind gifts."
- In 2003, eBay invited us to bring our experience to their global community. Together we built eBay Giving Works - a powerful way for anyone to do good just by buying or selling online. More than that, eBay Giving Works provides:
- A way for anyone to do something good with the stuff they have.
- A tool that lets nonprofits turn those in-kind gifts into money.
- A solution for nonprofits of every size to maximize cause-marketing, without expensive setup costs or million-dollar commitments.
- An easy way for any eBay user with a PayPal account to donate to nonprofits right away.
- We expanded into the UK in 2005 and are still writing our story today. Above all else, we'll remain committed to finding new ways to use technology to achieve our vision: any cause, any donor, any gift.
