Late last year, cMarket launched a new site called BiddingForGood.com that helps shoppers find gifts that benefit charitable causes. The online auction site aggregates items from cMarket's non-profit clients into one site. Cause-conscious shoppers can then search the site by item, organization, cause category or geography.

cMarket announced this week that the site now has about 10,000 items up for bid, and growing. The company said shoppers are spending significant time there - an average seven minutes per visit, with one quarter of them returning two or more times per day. The numbers also show that travel, sports and entertainment are the three hottest item categories, generating the most bid activity and largest net revenue to the charity.

Current "hot items" available include an Oscar VIP Package benefiting Belcourt Theatre; a trip to the Sonoma Inn and Spa to benefit a local chapter of the American Red Cross; and a pearl necklace to benefit Humane Society of Louisiana.

"Auctions work. And when they're put online they work even better," said cMarket and BiddingForGood CEO Jon Carson. "Auctions are perhaps the single most pleasurable way to give, because there is an exchange of value.

cMarket also offers an auction system that enables non-profits to develop an end-to-end solution for their online auctions.