Facebook Brings Small Business Fundraisers to Instagram

Facebook is bringing fundraisers for personal causes to the Instagram platform, which small businesses can utilize to raise money.

“Starting today, we’re rolling out a new way to raise money on Instagram for a personal cause, like yourself, your small business, a friend or a cause that’s important to you.

You can already raise money for personal causes on Facebook and we’re excited to bring this tool to Instagram.”

A personal fundraiser on Instagram can be started by following the steps below:

  • Navigate to your profile and tap “Edit Profile”
  • Tap “Add Fundraiser”
  • Tap “Raise Money”
  • Choose a photo
  • Add a fundraiser category
  • Add details about the fundraiser

Then submit the fundraiser for approval.

Why Start a Fundraiser on Instagram?

With 14 categories to choose from, fundraisers can be started for a wide array of different reasons.

Chances are you’ve seen many of the different types on Facebook already.

However, the ‘business’ category for personal fundraisers was only added this past April.

Facebook, and now Instagram, gave businesses the ability to raise funds in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

To that end, an example of a small business fundraiser would be to recoup costs for establishments whose operations are affected by COVID-19.

With businesses opening back up, fundraisers can help with covering costs for things like personal protective equipment, cleaning supplies, additional staff, and so on.

All fundraisers undergo a review process and are subject to approval by Facebook.

Once approved, businesses can start raising money.

Donating to a Fundraiser

Fundraisers provide a way for customers to support their favorite businesses and help them pay for sudden expenses.

When people donate to a fundraiser on Instagram they can choose to keep their information hidden from the public.

When an anonymous donation is made the business will still be able to see the donor’s username, name on their Instagram profile, and amount donated.

After a fundraiser ends, the funds go to the business’s designated bank account.

Eligible Causes for Personal Fundraisers

As mentioned, each fundraiser is thoroughly reviewed before it goes live.

This is done to make sure funds are being raised for an “eligible” cause.

In addition to raising money for pandemic-related business expenses, these are the eligible causes as defined by Facebook:

  • Community Projects and Groups: Such as costs for improvement projects, volunteer activities and club activities.
  • Crisis Relief: Such as costs for public crises and natural disasters.
    Education. Examples include costs for tuition, books and classroom supplies.
  • Faith: Such as costs for missions, community events and resources.
  • Family: Such as childcare costs, costs for adoption and help for relatives.
  • Hobbies: Such as costs for crafting equipment and supplies that support hobby or skill development.
  • Medical: Such as costs for medical procedures, treatments and injuries.
  • Memorial and Loss: Such as costs for funerals, living costs after losing a loved one.
  • Personal Emergency: Such as costs for a house fire, theft or a car accident.
  • Pets and Animals: Such as costs for veterinary bills, rescue and protection efforts.
  • Sports and Competitions. Such as costs for sports equipment, pageants and travel expenses.
  • Travel: Such as costs for school trips and emergency travel.
  • Volunteering: Such as costs for service equipment and supplies and travel expenses.

The ability to create a fundraiser on Instagram is being rolled out as a small test in the US, UK, and Ireland.

Source: Facebook

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