I’m finished backpacking for a while so I have some time before I jump back into the IT world of higher education. This gives me the opportunity to volunteer full-time in support of a worthy non-profit that is based on selling donated items online so that the proceeds can go to a designated charity. It is called MacHub and it was all made possible because the successful online sales business, Swedemom, transitioned into this non-profit version. I had no idea that I would end up helping MacHub, it could be that  God had His hand on this and maybe He is calling in a favor for saving my life on the Lost Coast Trail earlier this month.

There is no doubt that this MacHub venture is a great idea, but success will take some hard work and discipline. There are all kinds of charity selling models that work for the local demographics. But what if you had an option to get top value for your donations by selling it online to an international market. Of course this concept was made possible by the eBay online selling model, but anyone who has sold on eBay knows that it is not that simple. MacHub has been discovered rather quickly here in McMinnville, OR, which means that managing growth has already become a problem. MacHub benefits include more than just cash for charities, jobs for the homeless is also an outcome. But it is a business that must control expenses so that the realized proceeds for the Charity will justify the effort.

Success for MacHub does appear to be inevitable. The transition of assets from Swedemom and the use of their sophisticated database and sales processing software is invaluable. Combine that with a community that immediately rallied around the concept thanks to strong support from the local Newspaper, a small grant and a parent organization, Yamhill County Gospel Rescue Mission, YCGRM, plus dedicated people and you have a winning formula. And as my departed mentor, Bill Mitchell, used to advise, the goal only needs to be to “Do Good”. 

What is really cool about this business model is that the donors can become partners. The simplest option is for a donor to just drop off items similar to the Goodwill model so that the proceeds can help cover the costs of the MacHub expenses. But a donor typically will designate the charity to receive the proceeds from the sale of their items, and they can get an account to actually check the status and validate the donation value for IRS purposes. Any organization can qualify to be a partner of varying levels based on the the amount of item preparation work they want to provide.

We are now working out the details for establishing an umbrella organization that will handle the administrative duties to ensure that the software continues to be developed and is maintained. The need for an umbrella non-profit is due to the interest by other organizations around the country wanting to start their own version of MacHub. We currently have a pilot version in Chicago that is more of a single charity supporting a large homeless shelter and one near St. Louis that is a community model like Mac Hub.