December 13, 2007 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Lutheran Services in America, in Baltimore, is proving that an unwelcome surprise under the Christmas tree can be a boon for charity.
For the third year in a row, a project called Trading Graces is encouraging people to “regift” their
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unwanted presents by donating them to local chapters of Lutheran Services, which then sell them in a weeklong online auction on eBay. The money from the sale of each item goes to the chapter that contributed it to the auction.
Giving away unwanted presents “is becoming less of an inappropriate thing,” says John B. Carter, the online auction manager for Trading Graces. Doing so can still induce guilt if the items are passed off to friends, he says, but Trading Graces allays that guilt because people rid themselves of undesirable items for the common good.
To promote Trading Graces, Lutheran Services is putting notices in church bulletins for the annual auction, held the first week of February. Best-selling items in the past include coins, vintage train sets, and fishing lures. The first two auctions together netted $60,000 from about 100 chapters nationwide.
Mr. Carter says Lutheran Services hopes to increase returns from future auctions by supplementing the February online event with six other weeklong auctions held on the first Tuesday of each month, starting this month and ending in June. That should help chapters take advantage of unwanted birthday gifts and presents people receive for other occasions, he says. Some chapters might choose to post pictures online to generate interest but sell them at in-house charity events instead.
While talking to officials of local Lutheran Services affiliates, Mr. Carter says, he and his colleagues learned that the most successful affiliates relied on volunteers and others who are eBay veterans.They are now encouraging chapters to recruit experienced eBay sellers to help them with future auctions and cut down on the time commitment and cost for Lutheran Services staff members.
