How to collect online donations without Facebook fundraising
There are big changes coming for online fundraising.
One of the biggest platforms for crowdfunding – Facebook Fundraising – has announced it is ending charity donations.
There are many other ways you can collect donations and we have some guidance about the best way to go about this.
Facebook is ending charity donations through its platform
Facebook is going to be ending its charity donations tools this year.
If you’re a charity that fundraises through the platform, this means big changes. You can, however, urge people to donate on your website.
Details of how to do so are:
- Go to your Page settings.
- Select the Action button.
- Choose Learn More.
- Add the link to your website.
Other key bits of information to consider are:
- Donation services and e-money accounts: The agreement that you made to use donation services with Facebook Payments will end. This means that, on 1 July 2024, your current e-money account agreement with Facebook Payments will end and your Facebook e-money account will be closed. You should receive your final payout from Facebook Payments on or before 15 July 2024.
- Payout timelines: Facebook Payments will continue to distribute any donations made to benefit your charity on or before 30 June 2024, according to their payout timelines and conditions.
- Outstanding funds: You should receive your final payout from Facebook Payments on or before 15 July 2024.
- New donors: As of 25 April, only people who previously used an e-money account to make a donation will be able to donate until 30 June, due to regulatory requirements. Page admins and people who haven’t used an e-money account to make a donation will not be able to create or donate to fundraisers from 25 April.
- Fundraising tools: As of 1 July 2024, fundraising tools will no longer be available to charities in the European Economic Area.
When will these changes be made?
As of July 1st, 2024, you will be unable to use its current fundraising tools in the European Economic Area.
This means the last day you can make a donation on Facebook or Instagram in the Europe Economic Area is June 30th, 2024.
The following will no longer be supported as of July 1st, 2024:
- On-Facebook donate ads
- Fundraisers, donate buttons on posts and Pages
- Fundraiser API
How to fundraise when these changes take effect
If you’re currently using Facebook Fundraising and are concerned about what these changes mean for you, there’s still ways you can continue to raise money.
1. Redirect donors to your charity website
Charities will still be able to receive donations directly through their website, but other people will no longer be able to fundraise on their behalf on Facebook any more.
If you currently have the Donate button at the top of your Facebook Page, you can change it to send people directly to your website.
2. Start charity fundraising on GoFundMe
If you’re wondering where to turn to next after Facebook Fundraising ends, you can raise funds on GoFundMe’s charity fundraising platform.
It couldn’t be easier to collect online donations doing this and you can easily redirect your previous donors.
Our charity pages make it even easier for supporters to fundraise for you. You can access features that help you build a thriving community around your charity.
There are no fees for charities to sign up to GoFundMe and access their data.
All donations to charities on the platform are subject to standard payment processing fees of 1.9% per donation.
3. Encourage supporters to fundraise on your behalf
Supporters of your charity can fundraise on GoFundMe easily.
People who want to raise money for a certain charity can do so with ease on the platform and it’s a great way to encourage donations.
Charities receive donations directly, making the fundraising experience smooth.
The benefits of charity fundraising on GoFundMe
By raising money on GoFundMe, you can benefit from joining a global community that has worked to raise billions to support causes all over the world.
It’s easy to set-up on GoFundMe and there are helpful steps and tips along the way to help you have the most successful fundraising experience.
Contact our charity fundraising team for more information
If you would like detailed information about how GoFundMe can best help your charity, you can reach out to us on iecharities@gofundme.com .
We can provide more insight into how this will specifically work for you and how online fundraising can be done successfully on another platform.