A Suggestion for Using the 'For Sale' Section to Make Some Money for Charity

[GB72]

The other week I had a thought that I put to Mike H about having an option to donate to a charity in the 'For Sale' section. There are plenty on here who have spare kit as a result of the generosity of GM or who just have kit cluttering up the house that they are looking to get rid of. I thought that the 'For Sale' section could be used for those who wanted to give a bit back.

My suggestion was that GM set up a Justgiving link for the forum and the buyer could make a contribution through that and the seller could send the kit once the contribution appeared. This would take any hassle out of the transaction and the donation. The problem is that the level of red tape that GM would need to go through to be allowed to get involved in such a thing would be prohibitive. As a result, I suggested that it be put to the forum to see if anyone has any experience in these things and may have suggestions how it can be set up.

So, the first point is, does anyone think that this is a good idea and something you would use. To me it is a no brainer. I have kit lying around that could make some money for a worthwhile cause and I have received plenty out of GM and would be happy to give a bit back. That said, if people think that this is a bad idea then there is no point in taking it further.

The second point is as to whether anybody has any suggestions as to how to set this up. The ideal is a simple payment scheme so as nobody is going to any extra hassle to make the donation but would be happy to hear of any experience that people have in setting these things up.

Over to you, let me know what you think

 

[Oddsocks]

i think its an awesome idea,

 

[USER1999]

Who would decide what the charity is?

 

[Aztecs27]

Who would decide what the charity is?

GM or someone from GM towers would be the sensible bet I reckon.

 

[brendy]

Good idea but I just dont see it working, who would monitor who pays what? (remember we are limited by what plugins are run on the server as it is shared with other ipc forums) Would it drive prices up so the donation wasnt encroaching the money made as not much will actually be just given away. What if the person giving away would rather the money went to another charity?
I repeat, charity is always nice and is a good idea in general but I just dont see how it can be run efficiently.

 

[bluewolf]

I think that the best way would be for a nominated member to set up a "just giving" account. The charity should be voted on by forum members. It would then be a simple task to donate all money made into the "just giving" account. Some forums have used this in the past to raise fairly large sums. I know that another forum I use (Yorkshire Divers) has recently won the prize for largest donation over the year (to the RNLI). They had rules which meant that payments needed to be made for such actions as "changing your forum name" etc...

 

[GB72]

The idea was not to have a percentage of any money for a piece of kit sold being donated but the whole lot. My thought was that, lets say, a club is sold for £50.00. The Buyer pays £50 into the justgiving account and the seller logs on, sees the payment and dispatches the clubs. If the seller does not want to donate the whole amount or does not support the charity then the transaction could proceed as it would now.

My thought was that alot of people sell kit having received something new and shiney from GM so here was a chance to give that extra money back to a good cause.

 

[FaldosJumper]

I understand a just giving account lasts for only a set amount of time... However, that would give an opportunity to spread the joy I suppose.

Cracking idea though, hope it can be made to work, I like the forumers having a vote on it too!

 

[thecraw]

I'd be up for this.

May I suggest some sort of cancer charity as I'm sure everyone will have been touched by this tragic disease in some form in their life, from a family loved one to a friend.

 

[MashieNiblick]

Great idea.

How about the Seve Foundation. That would seem appropriate somehow.

http://www.seveballesterosfoundation.org/uk/

 

[bluewolf]

Maybe a shortlist of charities which could then be voted on. That would then be the official GM charity for 2012.

 

[Oddsocks]

im all for any sort of cancer charity as i lost both grand perants to the evil thing. what is to stop a quarterly charity change, spread the love so to speak. there are plenty of great charities out there, NSPCC, Many Cancer Forms, Authoritis and so on...

 

[EZprophet]

I think this is a great idea. I have just done a clear out and have lots of stuff that I was thinking of either putting on eBay or just giving away on here so this would be a great thing to do with them.

I can't see any problems with doing the Just Giving account thing due to the fact that the only money that will change hands is people donating to the Just Giving page. Just have a GM Just Giving account and when you want to buy something off of someone you just make a donation with your name attached to it, and then once the seller sees the transaction on the just giving page, they post the item...

The Seve foundation certainly seems appropriate. I certainly don't think I will get anyone to back me if I suggested the Tiger Woods Foundation jokeeeeeeeeee!!

 

[CMAC]

It's an admirable idea and to be commended.

I think the ipcmedia legal and marketing people have to get involved as they have a brand to market and protect.

 

[ADB]

This is an idea I would support and having an agreed charity, possibly changed on an annual basis, would definitely benefit from the generosity of forummers.

 

[GB72]

OK, the idea seems like one that will be supported so I will email a few charities over the weekend to see if they have any suggestions on how it can be set up.

I would love GM to be involved and from the email I had from Mike he would like to as well but the red tape involved in putting the GM name to it would apparently be horrendous.

I will post my findings.

 

[granters]

I did exactly this on a salmon fishing forum i was a member of and raised £1000 for cancer research. Basically i had a number of donations from members and auctioned them through e-bay, with 100% of proceeds going to the selected charity. It is automatically set up via e-bay, very simple and no fees involved as e-bay waive them for charity donations. All you have to do is get members to set up the e-bay listing , post a link and description on here and Bob's your uncle. The advantage being that it is not just limited to this forum.

Somebody could easily set up the auctions if the donators send them pictures, then forward the winners delivery address for the donator to send.