Making quilts to raise money for charity is a tradition beloved among quilters. Many thousands of quilts are donated every year to sell at fund raising events in support of worthy causes like schools, hospitals, animal shelters, community service groups, and countless others.

Donating quilts for sale can be frustrating for the giver if the audience at the fundraiser is small or has a limited interest in buying an expensive quilt. I have seen stunning quilts that took many hours to make, but which sold for disappointingly low prices because the audience at the fund raising event wasn’t quite right for the quilt. That’s why I was excited to find a new way for quilters to raise money for charity by selling their quilts online.

Sell Handmade Quilts on eBay to Benefit Your Favorite Charity
Sell Handmade Quilts on eBay to Benefit Your Favorite Charity

Sell Handmade Quilts Online at any Time and Automatically Donate the Profits

eBay’s Giving Works service makes it possible to raise money for your favorite charities by selling your handmade quilts at any time, not just at the charity’s official fund raising events. The huge eBay audience also vastly expands the pool of interested buyers for a donated quilt. You can auction your handiwork to thousands of quilt lovers instead of the few dozen or few hundred people who attend your charity’s events.

Who Can Sell Quilts and Who Can Receive the Donated Funds?

Anyone who has an eBay account in good standing can sell items on behalf of a nonprofit organization through Giving Works. When the item sells, an amount you designate (anywhere from 10% to 100% of the proceeds) is automatically donated directly to the charity. The name of the charity that will profit from the sale is displayed on the listing. Charity listings are also tagged with a special blue ribbon icon and can be searched for separately from commercial listings.

Giving Works automatically notifies the nonprofit recipient of the auction listing and handles all the mechanics of the sale and the donation, and issuing a tax receipt. This relieves you of most of the burden of keeping records for your taxes. Learn more about managing a donation account.

eBay does collect its customary auction listing and sale fees, but the fees are prorated based on how much of the sale price you donate. eBay’s Giving Works program administrator also collects a small administrative fee for each item.

Nonprofit organizations that register with Giving Works can also sell items directly on their own behalf.

Requirements and Restrictions for Quilt Donors and Nonprofit Recipients

The donor selling a quilt must have an eBay account and the charity must register with Giving Works to be eligible for the program. eBay prohibits certain types of listings for charitable auctions:

  • Real Estate Classified Ads
  • Adult Only categories
  • Raffle or lottery tickets

How to Create a Listing to Sell a Handmade Quilt for Charity

To designate your auction as a nonprofit auction, just choose the name of the organization you want to donate the proceeds to on eBay’s item listing page. If you use TurboLister or Blackthorne selling tools, you can also set up nonprofit auctions through their listing pages.

List of Nonprofits Eligible for Charitable Auctions eBay offers a directory with the thousands of nonprofits that are already certified to receive donations. Search the list to see if your favorite charity is already there. If not, contact the charity and ask them to register. The process is simple and involves no cost to the charity.