Mar. 3, 2009 Want to help Shaping Youth make a difference in the world without opening your wallet?
Now you can ‘regift’ those holiday oopsies, gadget castoffs, kids’ outgrown toys and gear all with a quick click via Shaping Youth’s Facebook Marketplace, powered by Oodle and launched today!
Timing couldn’t be better, given the bleak economy and clamp down in donor dollars, as the idea of selling things you aren’t using is sublime. Think of it as a virtual garage sale among 175 million users… friends and ‘friends of friends’ scaling the social graph as wide and far-reaching as the appeal of the cause…
What better way to support us with a quick click that won’t cost you a dime? The Oodle/Facebook Marketplace is perfect for those who want to show their support but don’t have the gift of time OR money to give.
Shaping Youth was selected as one of the 20 charities featured on the marketplace homepage in an effort to shine a spotlight on a few smaller organizations like ours that don’t have the schmooze-clout and lobbying-power of the nonprofit biggies. (hey, EcoMom Alliance is on there too, woohoo!) We have San Mateo-based Oodle to thank for that, and Kirsten Bollen, personally.
Kirsten put us in the loop to be featured in a couple of weeks once they’re ready to roll out Celebrities for a Cause, as we have a ‘mystery celeb’ that youth may not recognize but certainly SHOULD, as he’s impacted their media lives in a remarkable way. (that’s all you’re gonna get from me right now, unless you’ve read my Facebook wall latel) Fun!
I’ll be doing a full feature on Oodle’s trust and community-building product differentiations in the coming weeks, (particularly with moms and youth!) as Oodle brings a safer, social experience into classifieds, (complete with patent pending fraud protection).
Since they just launched today they’ll slowly ramp up to add more features, but for now, I must say, it’s elegant in its simplicity as a no fuss, no muss way to “sell for a cause.”
It feeds directly into the Facebook platform (like a friend feed or status update) then automatically funnels to the nonprofits using Network for Good when your item sells. ‘Awesome’ as the kids would say.
Whether it’s a vintage board game or a classic Kamaka ukulele (yes, kamaaina classmates, please join in the fun) if we can get a “Hamilton or a Jackson” (much less a Franklin) outta the various deals we’ll be smiling.
Now I just have to get my act together to e-blast the news and jumpstart people to do some spring cleaning on our behalf…
I figure even if just my FB friends on my profile page each sold one item for say, $25 Shaping Youth would receive $7500! (minus the 5% or so in admin fees)
Considering I haven’t even had time to ask Sky to plop an encrypted PayPal donor button on the blog UNTIL NOW, (see sidebar) I have high hopes that this ‘sell for a cause’ concept could help us grow the programs we’re already running as well as keep the lights on here.
Promotes recycling…repurposing…regifting AND cash free consumption? Perfect match for Shaping Youth!
So I’m serious, folks. Get creative. Sell oodles.
You can even sell your brain (a few hours of skill sets) sell your bod (a meet-n-greet lunch, book signing, speaking gig) or sell your media project (signed copy of your book/script, film/dvd) a private movie screening, voiceover/animation tour, day in the workplace demo, backstage pass, old production gear, costumes, you name it!) We’re media producers and media consumers fergoshsakes…that encompasses just about everybody!
And parents? I don’t even need to SUGGEST the concept of clearing out closets of baby gear, do I? As one of my peers once said, “I never thought I’d have décor by PlaySkool” You need it when you need it, but then what?
Reduce, reuse, recycle…(sung to the tune of itsy bitsy spider, always a hit…) then add repurpose for charity as a value-add!
Divas and debs? Our Project Green Prom teen alliance would LOVE your gowns, or you could sell them for Shaping Youth!
The beauty of the Oodle app is they’ve made it easy for you to select different charities to ‘share the wealth’ and sell for different causes, you don’t have to pick just one!
You can also “sell for yourself” and pocket the change, but then…ahem, you may not have a blogmeister here too much longer workin’ for free, especially if we can’t make ends meet to fund our programs.
Craig Donato, the CEO of Oodle wrote in this Facebook blog post today about the launch, using his own son’s train table as an example. ($25? Such a ‘bawgin’; those things used to be a mint!)
“I’m selling some of the toys that my kids have outgrown to support the Samaritan House, a local charity in Oodle’s hometown of San Mateo, California, that supports programs for families in need. If every person on Facebook sold something for just $1, we would be able to collectively raise over $175 million for causes around the world.”
Here’s his example of what it would look like on the Samaritan House landing page. (I’m a big supporter of them too, great group of folks!)
He explains that you’ll also be able to access the Facebook Marketplace powered by Oodle from the Application Directory, as well.
And here’s an example on Shaping Youth’s landing page, just to get a feel for how things work…(I don’t know who David is, but I thank him for supporting us and kicking off the launch, so sure hope it sells!)
Word has it they’ll be adding all kinds of fresh ways to compete with friends for charitable giving and no doubt come up with some oddball awards for arcane items or wild finds, so this could get hilarious…
Shaping Youth could have fun in that realm for sure.
After all, at the citywide beach clean-up for San Mateo our teen team won for weirdest salvage, (a vacuum cleaner in the muddy shoreline under a bridge…how do these things end up where they do, ya know?)
As you drag out your trunk-o-junk, remember that one person’s trash in another one’s treasure…and it won’t cost you a cent to help us out.
More in a follow up soon…In fact, Oodle is debriefing the 20 charities on the Marketplace home page tomorrow to explain logistics, how we’ll be “featured” and WHEN (coming up in just a couple of weeks)…
So start selling your socks off (ok, not literally) and we’ll be VERY appreciative of any ‘oldies but goodies’ hawked on our behalf…This virtual garage sale could be lotsa fun.
Remember, this is not an auction. It’s list-n-let ‘er rip…events, tix, any merchandise you can think of!
As Britt Bravo would say, “Have fun, do good.”
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