June 5, 2018 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Facebook said Tuesday it’s introducing a tool that will allow its users to team up to raise money for nonprofits, the latest digital fundraising innovation the social-media giant has rolled out in recent years.
Individual users have been able to create fundraising efforts on Facebook to benefit nonprofits — what the company refers to as “Facebook fundraisers” — since mid-2016. Now, up to four people can band together and operate a charitable fundraising event on the site, Asha Sharma, head of social good at Facebook, said in an interview with the Chronicle. Allowing co-administrators will create a multiplying effect in generating reach and dollars, she said.
“You can now add up to three friends to be organizers for your fundraiser to help manage it, rally more supporters, and reach your fundraising goal,” Sharma said.
In addition to individuals and teams of individuals, Facebook said Tuesday that brands and public figures will also be able to create and operate such fundraising events on the site. The company recently experimented with NBA superstar Stephen Curry, Sharma said. For his birthday, he hosted on his official Facebook page a fundraising effort for the nonprofit Nothing but Nets, which is dedicated to ending childhood malaria. After setting an initial goal of $30,000, the Golden State Warrior point guard raised nearly three times that, Sharma said.
“I think there is a class of catalytic philanthropy that is really powerful where it is not just people who are raising money for causes they care about, but it’s corporations, it’s small businesses, it’s nonprofits, it’s celebrities,” Sharma said.
Sharma said that nonprofits, too, can now create “Facebook fundraisers,” although groups have been able to raise donations on the site using various other features for several years.
Raising Many Millions
Sharma declined to say how many charitable dollars Facebook is now processing. The company, which had a valuation of $559 billion as of late Monday, has repeatedly declined to release numbers on gifts to nonprofits that are being made via the site.
What data has been released shows that Facebook is now a conduit for tens of millions of dollars in charitable giving each year, and likely much more.
On Giving Tuesday 2017, for example, Facebook handled more than $45 million in contributions, the company said.
Nonprofit leaders say that one fundraising tool that allows Facebook users to raise money for nonprofits to mark their birthdays — introduced mid last year — has proved especially popular.
Last month, the company announced a new feature that allows individual users who’ve created fundraising events for charities to also publicly match the donations.
