Breaking Down Facebook’s New Fundraising Feature

Did you hear? Facebook recently announced that they will be rolling out a new fundraising feature in the coming weeks. Facebook previously launched a fundraising feature for charities and this latest development is going to be an extension of that feature.

Here’s what we know about it so far:

• This new feature allows individuals to set up a personal fundraiser page, select a donation goal and receive funds through Facebook
• It is restricted to users who are 18 or older
• The fundraising is limited to six categories: education, medical, pet medical, crisis relief, personal emergencies or funeral and loss. Additional categories will be added down the road
• Users will have their Facebook profiles attached to their personal fundraiser page, so everyone will know who they are donating to and who else is contributing
• Friends can donate to a fundraiser page without leaving Facebook
• Once you create a fundraiser page, you will have to pay $0.3 per donation and 6.9 percent of the total money you raise to payment processing fees, fundraiser vetting and security and fraud protection
• The feature also lets any verified page add a donation button within any live video broadcasted on its page

In short, the new feature is comparable to GoFundMe, but with more transparency and fewer fees. For individuals who have a large friend pool on Facebook, this new fundraiser feature will allow them reach more people without having to create a separate page on an alternative fundraising site.

We’re interested in keeping an eye on what Facebook users will think about this new feature — and whether or not it will stick.