Facebook launches fundraising tools for nonprofits

Facebook is testing a new fundraising tool that will allow nonprofits to host campaigns on their Facebook page.

The company is partnering with 37 organizations, including the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the World Wildlife Fund, to try out the new functionality.

The interface allows nonprofits to set up a page for a fundraising campaign, where the organization can upload relevant videos and other media, collect donations, and track dollars against a goal.

In addition to the new fundraising page, Facebook is also expanding its Donate button. Now, organizations will be able to attach a donate button to both pages and posts, giving users more places to make a donation. Adding the button to posts also means that users will be able to make a charitable contribution while still browsing their news feed. Facebook’s donation experience keeps users in the same window, page, or post they’re viewing; they’re never redirected.

The feature marks yet another way for Facebook to get users’ credit cards. Earlier this year, the company launched peer-to-peer payments inside Messenger. Now it seems Facebook is ramping up the number of transactions it processes, likely because it does all its payments processing in-house.

Facebook isn’t saying when it will release this feature more broadly to nonprofit organizations, only that it will. It will be interesting to see if Facebook rolls out this feature for political action committees ahead of the 2016 national elections. If you’re interested in learning more, click here.