Those cozy auctions put on by the local PTA are well-meaning models of inefficiency. Organizers have to hustle donations, publish a catalog, and plan an event. Then, only a fraction of attendees bid, while the rest literally eat up profits as they scarf down hors d'oeuvres.
Jon Carson of Cmarket (www.cmarket.com) aims to do for nonprofits what eBay did for sellers of Flintstones lunch boxes. Groups that run auctions through Cmarket's Web-based platform can dramatically reduce costs: no printing, no mailing, no ballrooms at the Holiday Inn. They can expand their universe of potential bidders. And by letting donors put links to their Web sites next to the descriptions of their donations, organizers can solicit more stuff.
Cmarket takes an average of 8% of gross auction proceeds for the service. But it's still a win for organizations. Using Cmarket, the Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau raised 35% more for youth scholarships this year than last and did it with fewer staff hours.
Like almost everything else, giving has become a lot more global. As people live and work in more places, they make connections in more communities. Ray Crabbs, whose career as a social entrepreneur spans 34 years, is betting that the next change-the-game innovation in philanthropy will reflect that trend. "People see themselves not so much as municipal players but social players," he says. "They see their roles as being larger than any single place."
His brainchild is America's Fund for Communities (www.americasfund.org), a national version of a community foundation. Founded last January, this nascent consortium of local efforts lets people easily support causes in whatever cities they want to reach. America's Fund works with existing philanthropic organizations to find best-of-class programs in each area.
One of the fund's more creative partnerships is a new for-profit venture called Fundlink (www.fundlinkllc.com). The idea is simple but powerful: a loyalty program that enables local merchants to give to community nonprofits. Think of it as a reverse affinity card. Even better, customers, by registering their credit cards with Fundlink, elect those community nonprofits that they want the merchants to support. Now that's innovation with heart.
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