Facebook Expands Fundraisers to More People and Causes

One of the best ways to build your corporate image, small business, or individual brand is to give back. And if you’re part of a nonprofit, your organization relies on the generous gifts of others to stay in business.

Historically, crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter, IndieGoGo and GoFundMe have made it easier than ever to share and contribute to new ideas, creative projects and solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems. And now Facebook is getting in on the action with its own fundraiser feature.

With a recent update, Facebook’s fundraisers now allows for personal fundraisers to be created for 8 different categories:

• Education: such as tuition, books or classroom supplies
• Medical: such as medical procedures, treatments or injuries
• Pet Medical: such as veterinary procedures, treatments or injuries
• Crisis Relief: such as public crises or natural disasters
• Personal Emergency: such as a house fire, theft or car accident
• Funeral and Loss: such as burial expenses or living costs after losing a loved one
• Sports: such as equipment, competitions or team fees
• Community: such as neighborhood services, community improvements or environmental improvements

Unlike other crowdfunding sites, where almost anyone can join, Facebook only allows US-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations to create an account. However, once users sign up, they can get the word to their audience directly through Facebook, Messenger and email, all without leaving the site.

This can be a huge draw, especially if the News Feed algorithm gives priority to these in-house posts. Plus, when a user shares or donates a fundraiser on Facebook, each share and re-share contains a donate button, making it visible right from News Feed. Plus, donate buttons can also be added to a Page or posts and can redirect donors to a website.