Facebook fundraising tops £1.6bn worldwide
Melanie May | 19 September 2019 | News
Fundraising on Facebook has now raised over £1.6 billion for good causes worldwide, with half of that (£803 million) achieved through birthday fundraisers.
More than 45 million people worldwide have now donated to or created a fundraiser on Facebook since the launch of its fundraising tools in 2015 – double the amount reported in November last year.
Celebrities raising big sums include chef Gordon Ramsey, who raised £26,000 for Great Ormond Street Hospital for his birthday last year, and Manchester United star Paul Pogba, who kicked off a clean water fundraising drive with Charity: Water raising £7,360 to mark his 26th birthday in March.
UK charities that have benefitted from birthday fundraisers and donations on Facebook include Breast Cancer Care, which has raised over £1.8 million since launching on birthdays, and Alzheimer’s Society, which has raised over £1.2 million since launching on the platform.
People can also create their own fundraisers for non-profits or personal causes or use the donate button to pledge their support, and big totals raised in this way include almost £6m for Cancer Research UK through Facebook’s fundraising tools in the past year alone, £2.7m for Help Refugees, and £2.5m for Movember.
Please Take Me There has used £11,247 donated through Facebook to transport 681 children with cancer and living in extreme poverty to get the healthcare they needed. The funds paid for more than 1,700 journeys to and from hospital allowing children to be diagnosed and treated.
Sheryl Sandberg with top fundraisers from around the globe including Fernando Pinho from UK based charity Take Me There.
Speaking at a global roundtable of Facebook fundraiser creators in San Francisco, Fernando Pinho, its Founder, said:
“We were one of the first charities to have access to Facebook Fundraising in Europe. It allows us to share the stories of the children we support with our community, and immediately empower each supporter to become part of our fundraising team, to donate and help to change a child’s life. The seed funding we needed, a community of passionate and active supporters, 25 thousand members strong, were all possible because of Facebook.”
Anita Yuen, Head of Social Impact Partnerships Facebook, said:
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“It’s incredible to see our community mobilise around the causes they care about and raise billions for important projects worldwide. Birthday donations now sit at the very heart of that activity and it’s heartening to see a growing trend for celebrating in a more meaningful way. Over the past few years, Facebook has become a really powerful tool for fundraising, helping charities cross borders and reach supporters no matter where they are in the world.”
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.