People raise over $ 100 m via Facebook, Instagram to back COVID-19 causes

29 / 11 / 2020

By Marwa Nassar - -

This year has been difficult for everyone — but one silver lining has been the immense compassion and generosity that so many people have shown. On Facebook and Instagram, people have raised more than $100 million for Covid-19 causes and $65 million for those supporting racial justice this year, Facebook said in a statement.

Facebook added that more than 3.9 million people have visited its Community Help page to find ways to give and receive help.

The holiday season is a time when many people think about how they can give something back. Therefore, Facebook launched the Season of Giving campaign to encourage people to give however they can.

Next week on GivingTuesday — a day when people all over the world come together to support great causes — Facebook will match up to $7 million in eligible donations to US nonprofits made on Facebook.

An individual can get involved by starting a fundraise of his own on Facebook, or sharing or donating to an existing one.

Facebook is also making new fundraising tools available on Instagram. Donation stickers have long been a popular way to share important causes, and Facebook recently rolled out Instagram Live fundraisers and personal fundraisers too. Soon, it will begin testing a new way for people to create and share nonprofit fundraisers directly within their feed, and it will share more on this shortly. 100% of what’s raised for nonprofits on Facebook and Instagram goes directly to the organizations, and all donations are securely processed by Facebook Pay, making it seamless to do.

Fundraising is only one way to give back this holiday season. Today in the US, Facebook is launching Drives, a new Community Help feature that makes it easier to collect food, clothes and other necessities for people in need.

Facebook is starting to roll it out now, and it will be available more widely in the coming days.