Nearly two months after Facebook announced the creation of its Social Good team, which aims to build tools that help people do more good around the world, the social media giant has launched its latest cause-focused products: fundraiser pages and improved Donate buttons for nonprofits.
“Fundraisers” according to Mashable is a dedicated page where nonprofits can raise money for specific campaigns, whether it’s for the refugee crisis, to help eradicate malaria or to build a clean water well. The Donate button, previously reserved for ads on the site, will now appear on nonprofits’ Pages and posts, allowing users to contribute directly from their News Feeds.
The new fundraiser pages — similar in format to event pages — allow nonprofits to describe a particular campaign and collect donations directly from users, and will also showcase a progress bar toward its goal. Any fundraiser shared by a user in a post will display the new Donate button as well, allowing users to contribute through the post itself.
As of Wednesday, fundraisers and the new Donate button are live for three nonprofit partners — Mercy Corps, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and World Wildlife Fund. The features will extend to a total of 37 nonprofits across a range of causes throughout the holiday season, including (RED), charity: water, RAINN, UNICEF and Water.org.
Facebook is not currently charging its partners for using the products, but it will eventually implement a fee that covers operating costs at some point in 2016.
The goal is to break even, not make a profit, the company says, and Facebook says it will charge a fee that is on par or less than the industry standard.
The launch is supposed to encourage additional nonprofits to sign up for the new features in 2016. Interested organizations can find out more at donations.fb.com; right now, Facebook is focusing on U.S.-based 501(c)3 organizations, but plans to expand internationally next year.
Lastly, Facebook will vet all the participating nonprofits — they must be certified, have verified bank accounts and Facebook Pages, and comply with Facebook’s Community Operations Standards.
Mashable