Glide Foundation and Warren Buffett

An auction management agency helps take a highly successful local fundraiser to a national platform

Through an annual auction on eBay Giving Works, famed financier Warren Buffett, the world's second-richest person, has raised millions of dollars to benefit the Glide Foundation, an organization working to alleviate human suffering and poverty in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Buffett had been introduced to the Glide Foundation by his first wife, Susie. He liked what he saw, and he soon agreed to let Glide auction off the opportunity for the highest bidder to have dinner with him as a fundraiser. By 2009, the annual Warren Buffett Lunch eBay Auction had raised more than $6 million for the Glide Foundation. It's possibly the world's highest-profile annual auction, attracting bidders from around the globe. 100% of the proceeds from the winning bid benefit Glide.

Glide retained the auction management agency Kompolt to create a national online campaign with eBay Giving Works.

Maximum attention, maximum bids
"A charity auction is an opportunity for celebrities and brands to say to the world 'I care' and people react positively to that message," says Joey Leslie, president of Kompolt.

Auction management agencies help get the maximum attention and the highest bids for a high-profile item or experience. For example, bidders on the Buffett auction—and on many high-profile auctions—often aren't familiar with how eBay works. The agency often walks these bidders through every step, from setting up an eBay account, to placing a test bid, answering their questions, following up after the auction closes to arrange bank transfers, and introducing the bidders to the benefiting nonprofit. The agency also pre-qualifies bidders to ensure that the winning bidder actually has funds available to complete the purchase.

Simple yet effective
For the Warren Buffett auction, the bidding lasts only five days. Buffett dines with the winning bidder, who is allowed to invite up to seven other people, at the Smith & Wollensky steakhouse in New York on a mutually agreed upon date.

From the first year on eBay Giving Works, the event was a huge success—and it grew exponentially. The first year's winning bid was $202,000, and the highest bid ever received was $2.1 million. In 2009 the winning bid was $1.68 million, and as ever Kompolt pre-qualified all bids as part of their auction management services. The minimum opening bid was $25,000. Nearly 38,000 eBay members viewed the dedicated About Me page for the auction, while nearly 52,000 were interested in the Glide Foundation and viewed its About My Nonprofit page.

Everyone wins
One year's winner of the lunch with Warren Buffett said that as a regular donor to charities, he was especially attracted to supporting a cause. "You get to contribute to a worthy cause and also get time with Warren Buffett," he says. The celebrities who get involved with high-profile eBay Giving Works auctions find it life-changing for them as well. As Warren Buffett told Business Week in 2006, "I've made new friends this way."

Glide Foundation

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