The Ice Bucket Challenge was a fundraising phenomenon that helped Facebook build toward a milestone ... [+]
Facebook recently announced that more than $2 billion has been raised “in support of the people and causes they care about” on its platform.
To mark the occasion, the company shared a short video tying together the back stories of influential nonprofit leaders in the social media space.
“The entrance into the world of philanthropy has been made so much easier,” says Nancy Frates, one of the co-founders of the Ice Bucket Challenge.
“You’ll probably be surprised how many people are going to cheer you on, and also give to the cause that is important to you,” says Blair Brettschneider, Executive Director of GirlForward, and one of Forbes’ 30 Under 30 leaders in 2017.
In Nov. 2017, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook was dropping its 5% fee for nonprofit fundraisers. Now, 100% of funds donated to nonprofits through Facebook go to the organizations.
According to the 2019 Global NGO Technology Report, 84% of nonprofits worldwide are using Facebook regularly, with 29% using Facebook’s charitable giving tools. Respondents in the U.S. and Canada reported using the charitable giving tools at a 45% rate.
No Kid Hungry is one example of a nonprofit with a strong social media presence that has broadly benefited from Facebook’s birthday fundraiser feature.
“It’s probably 90 percent organic, and maybe a little bit more,” Jessica Bomberg, associate director of peer-to-peer fundraising for the No Kid Hungry campaign, told Forbes recently. “Most of the people who are raising money are choosing to do it on their own.”
Nonprofit social media expert Julia Campbell says Facebook is the new frontier for intra-personal fundraising.
“Facebook charitable giving tools represent a revolution in peer-to-peer fundraising,” said Campbell, author of ‘Storytelling in a Digital Age: A Guide for Nonprofits.’ “It gives the power back to the small donors. Even if you have just $5, or no money at all, you can set up a fundraiser and ask the people in your network to contribute to a cause that you care about.”
But there are mixed feelings in the industry about the psychology of Facebook fundraisers.
“My main issue with this nifty feature is that it propagates an unsuccessful approach to philanthropy,” wrote Forbes contributor Davide Banis, who describes Facebook birthday fundraisers as “just another declination of self-expression.”
But Campbell says the shift toward social media-based fundraising is inevitable.
“Nonprofits can fight Facebook fundraising but they can't control it,” said Campbell. “I firmly believe that normalizing giving, and making it easy and fun, can only help the entire sector as we struggle to get new donors and retain current donors.”
Facebook leadership expressed their gratitude to the givers among its user base.
“Thank you to everyone who supported these causes, and so many others,” wrote Naomi Gleit, Vice President of Product Management. “We know that $2 billion is just the start to the amount of impact our community will have.”
