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How To Set Up Fundraising Via Facebook Charity

Facebook is ubiquitous with billions of people actively using the platform, spending on average 58 minutes per day scrolling their timelines. For this reason alone, it’s worth signing up for Facebook Charity if you are a registered charity to give you one extra chance to fundraise for your organisation.

We have covered off setting up an Amazon Smile account and how to register your charity with Give As You Live. We’ve also written about how to get thousands of dollars of free Google Ads money. In this blog we are showing you how to register your charity with Facebook Charity that will allow you to create a direct donation button on this social platform to take money direct from within Facebook from your page followers.

 

What is Facebook Charity?

Facebook set up a charitable giving channel to help people raise money on Facebook for charities. The donations received are passed on in full with no commissions or fees taken out of the amount donated making this an efficient way to get the most out of your fundraising efforts. Donations are made through Facebook Payments and UK registered charities are eligible to sign up for the scheme.

 

How do I register my charity with Facebook?

There are a few key checkpoints to cover off first.

  1. Make sure that your page is set to be a ‘Community or Public Figure’ and not a business, brand or a location.
  2. Make sure that in your categories, the first one you list is ‘Charity Organisation’. Other categories that also apply to you can follow this, but ‘Charity’ must be first in the list.
  3. Check your eligibility for the program by clicking here: https://www.facebook.com/help/1251484118194936

Once you have these basics covered off, then you can start your application process right here: https://www.facebook.com/donate/signup

  1. First you need to choose the page (if you already have one) that you will be applying for charitable status on. If you don’t already have a page, then you will need to set one up. You will be signing in via your personal Facebook profile for this, and so make sure there are plenty of back up Admins on the page too, or choose the most appropriate person for this task to help administer the account as you won’t want to lose access inadvertently.
  2. As a Page Admin, you then need to sign up for Facebook Payments, then you need to go to your Page Settings and ‘Donations’ and check both tick boxes to allow people to create fundraisers on your behalf and to also allow people to add donate buttons to their posts.
  3. You will be asked for lots of information about your charity including it’s official name, address, incorporation certificates, your country of registry, information about your bank account and tax ID number. You will also need ID to verify the identity of your MD/Chair/Finance Director including their date of birth and a photo ID such as a passport. If you are a different person to your head of charity, then you also need to have your own ID to hand.
  4. Once submitted your application will be considered within the next 2-3 weeks.

 

What happens next once I have registered?

You will get a ‘donate’ button on your Facebook page once you are approved. This allows visitors to your Facebook page to make a donation direct from within Facebook. You can also ‘tag’ your posts with a fundraising button and you will be prompted to do so whilst using Facebook, making it easier. Anyone tagging your page on their own posts will also be prompted to tag your donation button on their posts too.

You can also encourage your followers to create fundraisers for you which run on their own Facebook profiles. They can start the process here or they can respond to a prompt from Facebook to set up a birthday fundraiser, choosing your organisation as the beneficiary. Make sure to put out content on your social media pages and your blog to advertise this to your followers to encourage them to do this kind of thing.

To help you administer your account, you will find under ‘Settings’ when you log into your Facebook page, a new ‘Charity’ navigation option on the left hand navigation bar. Here you are able to create payout reports and keep up to date with donations and money raised which will help you manage your financial accounts. Note: all pay outs are made in US dollars, so there is some element of marrying up needed to reconcile your bank account in GBP.

How do I receive money from Facebook?

There is a $100 minimum bar for a payout, and so when you reach this amount, the money will be credited to the account you nominated as part of the sign up process.

 

I work for a community organisation, do I have to be a registered charity to take advantage of this?

Unfortunately this and many charitable fundraising options require that you are set up as an official charity and are registered with the Charities Commission.

There is an option in Facebook to create ‘personal fundraisers’, which could be used for those of you who are not a registered charity but might be part of a community organisation or project. Find out more about policies related to creating a personal fundraiser on Facebook.

 

Is there an Instagram Charity?

Yes! Through your Facebook application, you can also then go on to run a donations campaign on your Instagram account too. Make sure that you are running a business Instagram account and that your Facebook and Instagram pages are linked together and the donations options will become available.

You can then add a donate button by going to your Instagram profile and tapping on ‘Settings’. Under ‘Business’ and ‘Donations’ you will then get the option to turn on the ‘Donate’ button which will appear on your profile.

Additionally, you can add a donation sticker to your stories or you can fundraise when you go live.  Here’s how:

Add a Donation Sticker to Stories posts:

  • Upload your image or video to Stories in the usual way and tap the sticker icon.
  • Choose the ‘Donation’ sticker and select your charity from the list.
  • Click share and you’re done!

Add a live video fundraiser:

  • Tap the plus sign on your account in the top navigation and select ‘Live’
  • Tap Fundraiser on the left and select your charity
  • Click the ‘go live’ button to start your live fundraiser.

 

Read more

We hope that you found this article useful. Take a look at the other social media help articles we’ve put together:

We’re sure there will be additions to this list, so maybe bookmark this page if you found it helpful.

 

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