If you were hoping Facebook would put a nonprofit advertising program in your animal organization’s stocking this Christmas, you’ll be disappointed. But there’s a lot to love about what the social media behemoth just did to help charities, including animal nonprofits, raise money.
Prior to last month, Facebook took a cut of 5 percent off every donation made via their giving platform. On Giving Tuesday — the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving — Facebook waived the fee for the day. Now, they’ve made that waiver permanent. One hundred percent of every donation made through Facebook will go to the organization.
Facebook is also expanding its catalog of nonprofit support programs, establishing a mentorship program, updating their fundraiser API, and implementing a robust matching program for disaster relief fundraising.
All this is good news for nonprofits, but it’s no substitute for a strong nonprofit program that would discount or waive fees for promoting posts. Google operates a free grant program for nonprofits, as do many publications, broadcast and cable TV networks, radio stations, and outdoor advertising companies. Will Facebook ever catch up?
Read Facebook’s complete announcement here.