Facebook is expanding options for donations and nonprofits on social media — and now the social media giant will stop taking a cut of those donations as well. On Wednesday, November 29, Facebook announced a slew of new changes for nonprofit organizations at the Social Good Forum, expanding options for donating on the platform, finding help in a crisis, or even finding a mentor.
After ditching the 5 percent cut of the donation that goes to Facebook for building the platform on #GivingTuesday, Facebook is making the change permanent. The social media giant said that 100 percent of all donations will now go directly to the nonprofit. Along with eliminating the fees, the company is setting up a Facebook Donations Fund that will send financial assistance to communities after a disaster to the tune of $50 million a year. And besides with contributing itself, Facebook will also be setting up matches with other organizations to make community donations go farther.
Non-profits can also potentially create more successful fundraisers using Facebook’s new API tools. The platform allows organizations to connect campaigns that don’t originate on Facebook to Facebook, essentially allowing users to donate without leaving Facebook, even though the campaign was first launched elsewhere. The tool also allows users to share the campaign or create sub-campaigns. For example, for a 5K that is raising money for a cause, individual runners can sign up and get a Facebook donate button to share with friends, tracking that runner’s fundraising progress.
Another API expands the previously launched Community Help tool. Launching initially with the American Red Cross and NetHope, the API allows organizations to use Facebook to gather data following a crisis. The tool allows individuals to ask for help and in turn helps organizations determine what’s needed where quickly.
Facebook is also launching a new platform that gives back not financially but with time and support. Mentorship and Support is a new program on Facebook where users can find a mentor and receive support through Facebook. The mentor matches are done through non-profit organizations, starting with iMentor and The International Rescue Committee, which means that organization vets each individual before recommending them as a mentor. Facebook says the new tool can be used for users struggling with addiction or looking for help to advance their career. The tool is only available to users who are 18 or older.
The updates also come with expanded fundraising tools reaching additional countries, both for nonprofit fundraising tools and for personal fundraisers. In addition, the blood drive tool that launched in India earlier this year will also expand to Bangladesh in 2018.
