Eight months ago, Jason Nicosia found himself at a charity event in New Orleans that was raising money for the Louisiana Technology Council by auctioning lunch meetings. At the time, Nicosia was working as a sales representative for a billing software company and recognized purchasing some facetime with high-power execs presented a great opportunity.

"These guys were my ideal clients and this was a lot easier than getting a meeting otherwise," Nicosia told Mashable. "So I took the company credit card and spent a couple thousand dollars."

Nicosia says his bidding paid off, and he was able to close several business deals through his meetings. He then thought about taking this very concept online, to raise money for charity by connecting people for business lunches. That's when he got to working on Connect for a Cause, the startup he launched Monday.

Connect for a Cause is a social giving platform that lets you bid on meetings with top executives, celebrities and CEOs.

"I think of it as an eBay meets LinkedIn for social good," Nicosia says.

In a test version open to some non-profits, organizations auctioned lunches with board members, supporters and contacts. The trial raised $27,000 for charity, and Nicosia realized he could open the platform up to anyone, anywhere, who wanted to support a charity. In its beta version, people offering lunch can choose from any of the 1.5 million non-profits registered in the U.S. to benefit from their auction.

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"My vision is that Connect for a Cause changes the way people get the meetings that help them get ahead in life," Nicosia says. "Somebody helped me get where I had to go, but not everybody in the world has access to the same. Hopefully, connect for a cause will facilitate those same connections."

Moving forward, Nicosia hopes to launch video conferencing, so lunches don't have to be geographically limited.

Would you lunch for a cause? Let us know if you'll be trying this new platform.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, webphotographeer