You may have seen this amazing picture online of a man swimming with this arthritic dog. His love for his dog and the kindness of his spirit inspired thousands of dollars in donations to help his dog Schoep receive much needed medical treatment. Not only is John Unger’s dog wagging his tail again because of these tremendous donations, John has used the rest of the donations to start the Schoep Legacy Foundation to help other animals in need. In large part, this has all happened due to the power of the internet. Stories like these travel faster than ever, and allow donations to happen instantaneously with the click of a button. People want to give, they want to help; they just need to know who needs help and how to help them. The internet makes that information infinitely easier to find.
You may remember this story about Karen Klein, the bus monitor, who was bullied terribly. The video of her experience went viral, and people were outraged by what they saw. All it took was one person, Max Sidorov, to decide that this woman deserved the vacation of a lifetime, and $700,000 worth of donations flooded in. His online fundraising campaign’s original goal was only $5.000. From all this generosity, Karen was free to retire and have the vacation of a lifetime for the rest of her life. One could worry that we are living in a time when it seems the internet has taken over our lives. We spend more time on Facebook, Twitter, and email than we do enjoying each other’s company in person. It would seem real human connection is on its way out; that empathy and compassion are things of the past. We’re all too busy staring at screens for that.
As it turns out, nothing could be further than the truth. The internet has given the opportunity to more people, to give more often, and to give more generously. This is how BiddingForGood has helped thousands of organizations raise over $165 million dollars in less than 10 years. Online auctions make it easier to give. All of our non profits are run by people brave enough to ask: “Can you please help us?” and our 350,000 registered bidders have answered with a resounding: “Yes”. I hope that if you are one of our bidders you will continue to give, and if you are a non profit you will join us and grant more people the chance to give to your cause. You might be amazed at the generosity you will see.
In a recent post of mine, I introduced a broad topic of charitable consumers. I would like extend on this post and paint a better picture with a real life example.
Sandra Rupp is considered to be one of BiddingForGood’s best and loyal customers. Just recently, I was fortunate enough to have Sandra share her personal story with me, as it relates to charitable commerce. Now, I would like to share her story with you.
Our Story….by Sandra Rupp and Teri Hancock
In late 2009, my daughter and I decided that we HAD to travel somewhere warm and wonderful, where we could catch up and enjoy each other’s company. We had been through the loss of so many loved ones in the last few years that we wanted to travel with happiness and anticipation of a wonderful time, rather than a sad journey to a funeral.
I bid on a trip to Hacienda Tres Rios, Cancun, Mexico and received the winning bid. We worked with the resort to get airfare and an upgrade. So in February of 2010, we met each other in Cancun and enjoyed four wonderful days (even though one came with rain); laughed, cried a bit, and made some major decisions about the next year.
I am very happy that I got the winning bid as it gave us a brand new adventure.
Sandra Rupp's story is a prime example of how shopping on BiddingForGood can benefit so many involved. We always knew the dollars spent on our site were put to good purpose by benefitting organizations and those in need. We also knew that shoppers feel good when they shop with us. But who knew? Shoppers can benefit from a BiddingForGood transaction just as much as the organization it supports.
There is more to this story, Hacienda Tres Rios just happens to be one of our socially responsible business partners. Their partnership with us has helped so many. Their generosity of vacations made available to our nonprofit/school clients has helped raise a ton of money and now I see, has also helped to create life long memories.
I would like to thank Sandra Rupp and Teri Hancock for sharing their story and allowing BiddingForGood to be part of their special moment in time. This mother and daughter team is a pure symbol of Goodness In Action, in more ways than one.