Facebook is introducing a service very similar to GoFundMe. Facebook Personal Fundraisers will allow you to raise money for yourself, a friend, or to assist a pet. And you won’t have to set something up outside of Facebook to do it.
Now, you can’t just raise money to buy yourself a new TV, the personal fundraising is limited to specific categories.
Education – you can raise money for your books, tuition, or classroom supplies. You could also raise money for your child’s class to help them with supplies.
Medical – raise money to pay for medical procedures, treatments, or injuries.
Pet Medical – you can raise money to help your sick pet with vet procedures, treatment, or injuries. You could also raise cash to help fix and get shots for a rescued stray.
Cris Relief – raise funds to aid in natural disasters or to assist after fires or other crises.
Personal Emergency – If you’ve lost your home in a fire, had your car stolen, or had a car accident, you can raise funds to help yourself or someone else out during the rough patch.
Funeral and Loss – this could cover funeral expenses or financial assistance to a family who has lost a breadwinner.
People have shared fundraisers of these types for years on Facebook, but now users won’t even have to click off Facebook to donate.
This won’t be a free service. Facebook will charge a 6.9% + .30 fee to go towards processing fees, making sure fundraisers are legitimate, and security and fraud protection.
To get started, choose Fundraisers from the far left of your browser. Or choose Fundraisers from the Apps section on your mobile device.
Tap Create Fundraiser.
Select either yourself or a friend.
Choose the fundraising category.
Then add photos and explain what’s going on.
People will be able to donate with just a tap.
As always, with fundraising, don’t set up funds for other people without checking with them first. You may end up competing with another fundraiser.
What do you think of this new service? Is a great way to help out? Or do you think people will abuse it? Let us know in the comments.
~ Cynthia
This is fabulous! I use Facebook for just about everything now. Thanks so much for posting pics with the instructions as well. 🙂