You’ve probably noticed a sudden proliferation of your friends on Facebook asking for donations for their birthday recently on Facebook. But underneath that is a major new feature for any non-profit that has a presence on Facebook (I assume that’s all of them!).

 – and we’ve just recently set this up for our friends at 

 Do With Facebook Donations … but there are workarounds.

It’s pretty simple, really – Facebook users can donate money using a credit card on the desktop in or in the Facebook mobile app, and it goes directly into the account you specify when you sign up – and Facebook takes ZERO fees.

Like any non-profit verification process, you’ll need to provide proof of your status, etc. This is 

what Facebook says you need to get access to these Charitable Giving tool

Be a 501(c)(3) organization registered with the IRS.

Have a bank account registered with a licensed financial services institution. Bank account details, including the bank name, bank account holder’s name (organization’s name), and a legible and official bank letter or statement dated within the last 3 months.

The date of birth and address of the charity’s CEO or executive director.

Add a Donate Button to your Facebook Page

The most noticeable thing is that you can add a “Donate” button to your Facebook page, like so:

Similar to those birthday fundraisers, anyone on Facebook can now fundraise for you. On your page, you will now see a “Fundraisers” option. You can share this link with any Facebook member, and they can start a fundraising drive for your organization.

The donation creation form looks a little something like this:

Another hidden gem is that anyone can add a DONATE button to one of their posts, just by choosing “Supporting…” from the “Feeling/Activity” button:

They’ll be asked if they’d like to “Add a Donate Button”, like this:

And it will eventually appear like so in their Facebook Feed:

What You CAN’T Do With Facebook Charitable Giving Tools (But There Are Workarounds):

You Can’t Create Ads That Drive People to Donate (on Facebook)

Nope, can’t do it. However, if you’ve created Facebook ads before, you’ve likely see the “Donate Now” call-to-action button for ads. 

 button is actually for offsite donations, and it works like so:

But, You Can Create Ads for Offsite Donations

This has nothing to do with Facebook Charitable Giving tools, but does give you a way to ask for donations, if you have a website that is taking donations for you.

This works like any other off-of-Facebook targeted ad, except you should change the call-to-action button to “Donate Now” instead of “Learn More”:

Which will look a little something like this:

Louisville Leopard Percussionists on their website

And, if you’ve never witnessed them before, I suggest this charming video where Ozzy Osbourne and his family are brought to tears at their professionalism and joy while they perform his hit 

Non-profit Marketing

Social Media & Audience Development

Facebook Donations: How to Add Charitable Giving Tools to Your Non-Profit's Facebook Page

Late last year, we worked with our friends at Fund for the Arts, here in Louisville, to 

develop a new tool to collect and manage donations from corporate workplace fundraising campaigns 

. Our goal was to improve the user experience for their donors, as well as the folks at FFTA that have to manage the donations on the back end.

With the successful launch of the eCampaign system and 

, our tool caught the eye of LexArts. Similar to FFTA, LexArts is a cultural development, advocacy and fundraising organization for the arts in Lexington, KY. Building on the work we did for FFTA, we were able to re-skin the eCampaign system for their brand, adjust some of the functionality, and produce a quality fundraising tool on a tight schedule timespan.

“By leveraging VIA’s technical expertise, we are better able to engage with arts supporters and potential donors in the ever changing fundraising landscape. We are grateful to the entire VIA team for donating a considerable amount of their time to help us in our pursuit of more art for more people in more places,” said Eric Gurevich, Director of Communication and Engagement.

As an organization, we love the supporting the arts, and supporting those who support the arts! We’ve built the eCampaign system to be easily replicated for other nonprofit organizations and are excited for the prospect of future partnerships.

Platform and CRM Integrations

Announcing the Launch of Our Second Fundraising Tool

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Parks Alliance of Louisville

Marketing for non-profits is a challenge that we feel like our values and perspective especially suit. Building an invested audience that shares your passion is key, but with so many different ways to communicate - which will work best for your non-profit? Through collaboration and strategically-led marketing, design and development we can help! 

Non-profit Marketing

Non-profit Marketing: Case Studies

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Parks Alliance of Louisville

Non-profit Marketing: Blog Posts

Facebook Donations: How to Add Charitable Giving Tools to Your Non-Profit's Facebook Page

Announcing the Launch of Our Second Fundraising Tool