Facebook’s photo-sharing app, Instagram, is developing a tool for nonprofits to collect charitable donations, according to an announcement from Facebook today.
The new feature will allow charities and their supporters to include a donate button in their posts. When users click on it, they will go directly to the charity’s donation form.
The tool is part of the app’s Stories section, which allows people to show photos, videos, and texts that expire 24 hours after they are posted.
Facebook expects to share details on ways charities and their supporters can use the tool, which is still being developed, in the next few months.
Facebook has made several other efforts to help nonprofits attract donations. It launched a donate button on its social-networking site in 2015 and later added tools that make it easy for people to raise money for their favorite causes on their birthdays or other special occasions. In November, the social-media company said Facebook members had used its tools to raise $1 billion for charities and personal causes, such as medical needs. On Giving Tuesday in November, nonprofits raised $125 million with Facebook tools.
“People have been fundraising on Instagram for quite a while,” said Emily Dalton Smith, director of product management and social good at Facebook.
Facebook will cover the credit-card processing fees and costs of operating the feature so that “100 percent of people’s contributions go directly to the nonprofits,” she said.
The company said it was too early to talk about how the donor data that Instagram collects through this feature will be shared with participating charities.
Facebook’s latest move results from the success of its charitable-giving tools and interest from nonprofits in expanding their fundraising opportunities.
While the Instagram donation button will open a new fundraising opportunity to charities, it’s unclear how much overlap there is between Instagram and Facebook users. Instagram currently has more than 1 billion users, but Facebook would not say how many of those users are also active on Facebook.
Donation Forms
Previously, Instagram users could add links to their profiles or stories to seek donations through the app, but the new tool formalizes fundraising on the app. Just as Instagram users can choose to add their location or a hashtag to a story, they will soon be able to embed a donation button. Users must select the organization that will receive these donations from a list of charities that Facebook has preapproved. The approval process in the United States will involve Facebook confirming with the Internal Revenue Service that the charity has 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status “in good standing.”
Both individuals and charities themselves will be able to use Instagram’s donation sticker to gather donations for a cause. Participating nonprofits can pre-set donation amounts, beginning at $5.
Giving Blood
In addition to the donation sticker for Instagram Stories, Facebook also announced the expansion of its blood-donation feature, which the company created in 2017 and which now operates in Bangladesh, Brazil, India, and Pakistan.
The feature will enable people in the United States to register as blood donors by submitting an online form with their name, location, and interest in donating blood. Those who register to donate blood receive notifications when their profile matches the needs of a blood bank near them.
Facebook has not yet released details on when the blood-donation feature will be available to U.S. users.
