Facebook Introduces New Features for Fundraising, Drops Fees for Personal Causes

Facebook announced today a new feature that will make it easier for users to match funds they raise for charity on the site.

According to a press release from the social media giant, it’s adding a matching feature that would allow people to automatically match donations if fundraisers reach a set amount.

Asha Sharma, Facebook’s head of product for Social Good, said the company had noticed people promising to match donations on their fundraisers and decided to implement a tool that would put it all in one place.

“We’re continuously learning and this was something we wanted to do to help people maximize the benefits,” Sharma said.

Here are the new features for Facebook’s Social Good platform:

  • People can pledge to match donations to their nonprofit fundraiser. This is a first of its kind tool in online fundraising that’s now available in the US and will soon expand internationally.
  • We’re also announcing new categories for fundraisers for personal causes so people can raise funds for more social good causes across family, faith, travel, and volunteering.
  • In the coming weeks, we’re eliminating the platform fee on all fundraisers for personal causes, helping maximize their support.

There will, however, still be fees for payment processing and taxes. In Canada, payment processing fees are 2.6 percent plus $0.30.

Social Good, Facebook’s branch that focuses on helping people, are features like fundraisers, mentorships, and emergency responses. The effort focuses on how people can use Facebook to help others offline – a public image that the social network wants with its motto, “bringing people closer together.”

P.S. - Like our news? Support the site with a coffee/beer. Or shop with our Amazon link. We use affiliate links when possible--thank you for supporting independent media.