Life According to Seinfeld

People always think that work at a Foundation simply involves writing checks all day long. This is far from the truth and a myth I constantly strive to debunk. Oddly enough, today I found myself spending a good amount of time signing checks. I suddenly had a flashback to a Seinfeld episode where Jerry starts to get a cramp in his hand from endorsing royalty checks. (Funny how there is always a Seinfeld episode for various moments in life). Our local conference room also looked like an assembly line as plaques, letters & checks were being hand-packed for mailing by the dedicated Foundation staff. This scene is not typical of the everyday goings on at the Foundation.

To be exact, I found myself signing my name almost 200 times today on grant letters and checks. What was the occasion? The conclusion of our latest round of the eBay Foundation Champion A Charity program, one of the several programs we have to support the charitable interests of eBay employees. Through Champion A Charity, eBay employees can recommend a grant up to $2,500 to their favorite charity. A review committee comprised of eBay employees from all over the globe read the proposals and make funding recommendations.

Since we started the program back in 2003, we have made over 200+ grants to employee recommended charities! More importantly, over 329 eBay employees (unfortunately, not all submissions get funding) have taken the time to write proposals to help charities get funding. We think this is absolutely terrific and a great example of the giving spirit of our employees (Above, pictured at a Foundation lunch are some employee champions talking about their charity to eBay's champion CEO, Meg Whitman).

We’re so proud to have funded a variety of organizations through this program from a group that helps land mine victim’s families in Vietnam to a local hospice that needed baby monitors for its patients. We think the program is a great way to support community needs (especially those that fall outside our grants focus of microenterprise), and to support the charitable interest of eBay employees—a win-win for all.

If you are an eBay employee, we would love to hear your thoughts about the program, which we currently offer 2x a year, and will shortly offer 4x a year. Non-eBay employees, we would also love to hear what you think about the program. Does your company sponsor something similar? Any ideas we can borrow to provide greater support for the charitable interests of employees? If I think hard enough, there may be a Seinfeld episode that has some insights. But until I remember one, drop us a line or post a comment to give us some feedback.