Tax Receipts

Hi everyone!  I have received a few questions regarding the tax receipts that you will receive if you were the winning bidder on an auction item. It is quite the process but we are finally understanding how it all works. MissionFish, the organization that eBay works with to run their charity auctions, takes the money out of our PayPal account. Once that money is processed to MissionFish they donate it to Helping Hands Ministries, Inc. This is the charity that actually disperses the funds to the Stone Family. The date on your tax receipt will be the date that MissionFish actually "made" the donation or payment to HHM on our behalf.  I received an email yesterday that about half of the donations have been made and the tax receipts are processing.  Once they are processed we print them off our computer and mail them directly to you.  Even if you get your tax receipt after January 1, 2009 you will still be able to use it for 2008 tax purposes. The date on the receipt is the important part!  We are confident that this will be done by the new year but since we don't have any control over it we wanted to let you all know!

If you would like more information please click here to see a diagram of how MissionFish and eBay Giving Works get the donations to the seller's charity, in our case Helping Hands Ministries, Inc.

Here's more information on MissionFish and eBay Giving Works from the eBay website:

"At eBay, we think it's a whole lot easier doing good in the world if you've got someone to help you out. And just as we're here to help you support all of your favorite causes, we sometimes need a little help of our own...and that's where our friends at MissionFish come in. MissionFish is an organization that powers the eBay Giving Works program, providing crucial services like screening all nonprofits wishing to become members and processing all of the incredible donations that result from your successful eBay Giving Works listings! They make sure every donation makes its way to the intended nonprofit, so you can rest easy, and the nonprofit can focus more on their mission.

And because MissionFish is a nonprofit themselves, they really know their stuff.

That's why we rely on them to help us navigate the sometimes complicated world of fundraising, making sure that everything is in compliance with government regulations and that all donations make it to their intended nonprofits. Though MissionFish is its own entity and isn't owned by eBay, it turns out that we're just a good match...emphasis, of course, on the good."

Please contact us if you have any questions at all!  Thanks!!!