Schools get funds for football teams, needy families get emergency accommodations, DC students get help for college... these are just a few of the community benefits ezAuctioning delivers in the course of a day's business.

Founded by Geremy Gersh, Carrie Ruggles and Wes Jamison last year, ezAuctioning won the 2005 New Business of the Year award from the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce for its innovative use of technology, involvement with the community and strong ties to nonprofits.

The premise is simple: People donate items to the charity, ezAuctioning sells the items on eBay and they give proceeds from the sale to the charitable organization. The company takes a commission from the sale to cover end-to-end services - from taking a photo of the item to posting the eBay sale, answering questions from potential buyers, and storing and shipping the items.

For nonprofits, the company often provides extra services such as picking up donations at their headquarters and helping plan fundraisers.

 

Mixing Business with Benefits - a Community Strategy

In its first year, the company worked with 16 nonprofit organizations to organize Drop Off Day events, where people could donate unwanted items to charity. The organizations not only raised approximately $32,000 of funds through selling 300 donated items, but ignited new enthusiasm in their donor base as well.  

The group saw tremendous growth in its first year through word-of-mouth referrals - the ultimate testimony of satisfied customers - and has expanded to a second location in Arlington.

"It's so much better helping someone than just giving someone a check," says Jamison. "I would recommend to any business to figure out how to incorporate what they do to benefit local organizations."

To learn more about ezAuctioning and the organizations it helps, visit ezAuctioning.com.

Check out the nominees from this year's Nice Guys Awards Business Category.

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