Facebook. Image: tongcom photographer/Shutterstock
Facebook’s donate button has helped to raise more than $10m for victims of Hurricane Harvey.
Social network Facebook is introducing tools to enable its members in Ireland, the UK and the rest of Europe to donate directly to selected non-profit groups and charities.
The donation tools have been used with great results in the US since 2015, most recently raising millions of dollars for victims of Hurricane Harvey in Houston and surrounding areas. Mark Zuckerberg recently announced a further campaign to help those affected by the heavy rains in South Asia.
From the end of September, charities in Ireland, the UK, Spain, Germany and France will be permitted to test the fundraising tools, with the roll-out expanding to more European countries from early October.
Registered charities and non-profits can sign up immediately, although the features won’t be live just yet.
A charitable toolkit
A donate button can be attached to page headers and posts so users can give money directly without leaving the Facebook page.
As was done at the Ariana Grande concert to benefit victims of the Manchester bombing, the donate button can be attached to Facebook Live broadcasts.
Finally, Facebook Fundraisers allow people to create a dedicated page to tell others about the charity of their choice and create a fundraising target.
Charitable organisations that sign up directly for the site’s new fundraising tools will pay a 5pc fee for the service. Some of this fee goes towards vetting the organisations, while another portion of it covers the processing of these payments.
Ice bucket inspiration
Last year, Katherine Woo, project manager for the social good team at Facebook, told The Guardian that the donation idea was conceived during the ice bucket challenge craze: “I was tagged by a friend to make my own video. And I said, ‘OK, I’m ready to donate … where do I donate?’
“But my friend didn’t know. Our team thought that if we could create a simple way to donate on Facebook, it would be a lot easier and you’d end up collecting more money.”
Facebook. Image: tongcom photographer/Shutterstock
