Facebook Adds 'Donate Now' Button for Non-Profits

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By Kurt Wagner2013-12-16 19:34:45 UTC

Facebook added a new donation feature on Monday that allows users to contribute cash to non-profits directly through the platform.

Facebook partnered with 18 different non-profits during the initial rollout of the feature, including the Boys & Girls Club of America, Livestrong Foundation and the World Wildlife Fund.

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Users can donate using an embedded "Donate Now" button on each partnering non-profit's Brand Page. The button allows users to donate in preset amounts of $10, $25, $100 or $250, using a credit card, debit card or PayPal.

If a user comes across a non-profit's post in his News Feed, he can donate using the same button embedded on the post. This button also gives donors the option to manually enter a preferred donation amount so they are not restricted to the preset amounts listed above.

For now, only the 18 partner non-profits can elicit donations on Facebook, but the company "hope[s] to open it up in the coming weeks" to other non-profit partners, according to a spokesperson. There is no plan to add partners that are not non-profits.

Facebook first tested this feature in November when users were able to donate to Red Cross via Facebook following the deadly Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. A Facebook spokesperson declined to comment on the amount of money raised through the campaign, but in that instance, users were able to donate straight from a notification at the top of their News Feeds.

Monday's feature was rolled out on the Facebook's web version to all users in the United States Monday. There is no set timetable for its available on mobile, but a Facebook spokesperson called mobile integration a "priority."

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Image: Thierry Charlier/AFP/Getty Images

Topics: donate, Facebook, livestrong, non-profits, red cross, Social Good, Social Media, U.S.