StubHub Foundation

At StubHub, while working in corporate communications, I was tasked to figure out what to do with returned tickets—since we didn't own them, there was concern about profiting from their resale. Charged with creating value around these tickets without compromising our principles, I led a brainstorming session in marketing that generated several ideas, including donating tickets to radio stations for promotion, selling them on eBay for Charity with 100% of proceeds going to a good cause, and even giving them to employees. After testing these options, our initial eBay for Charity initiative raised $100K in its first month, but it lacked a direct tie to our brand. To address this, I collaborated with the Silicon Valley Community Foundation to set up a Corporate Advised Fund and convinced StubHub to contribute a $500K seed donation. We then directed the proceeds from our “Give and Go” program on eBay for Charity to this fund, ultimately launching the StubHub Foundation—a dedicated initiative that provided funding and support for kids in music, theatre, and sports. In our first year, we donated over $1.7 million to local organizations in the cities where we operated.