Loading...

Facebook Testing New Fundraising Tool

Facebook today unveiled a suite of donation tools to be tested among 37 charities that could be available to qualified nonprofits by next year.

“Today we’re testing Fundraisers — a new tool — and improving our donate button, to help nonprofits reach new supporters, engage their community and get the valuable funding they need to continue their good work,” Naomi Gleit, vice president of product management, said in an announcement today.

Fundraisers is a dedicated place where nonprofits can raise money for specific campaigns and Facebook also has improved its donate button for pages and individual posts. Among the nonprofits testing the new features are Mercy Corps, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, World Wildlife Fund and Wounded Warrior Project. Beta partners will not be charged a fee but eventually one will be implemented to cover costs sometime next year. Testing will help to determine the operating cost and administrative fee, which should be on par with industry standard but not create a profit.

Facebook first tested ways to fundraise on the platform in 2013 with a pilot among 24 nonprofits. Nonprofits will be able to get contact information from donors, unless they opt out share their email address, which was one concern among nonprofits during the previous testing.

“People will be able to donate in just a few taps and share their donations with friends. All shared posts will also include a donate button, making it easy for anyone who sees it to donate and join the fundraiser directly from their News Feed,” Gleit said. Donate buttons on both Pages and posts will allow users to contribute using a one-page form without leaving Facebook and share that they donated with friends.

Facebook plans to make the fundraising tools available to other U.S.-based nonprofits soon and beyond the U.S. by next year. Organizations interested in using Fundraisers can sign up to learn more.

The Facebook Social Good team also has created Safety Check, which makes it easy to tell loved ones that you’re safe on Facebook during a time of crisis, such as last week’s terrorist attacks in Paris, launched after the Nepal earthquakes this past spring. The team also is working on ways to increase charitable giving.