What is Happening?

Instagram has announced a new tool for personal fundraisers.

The company says it’s beginning a small test of the feature, which will allow users to link directly to a fundraiser from their profile page.

Over the next few months, Instagram will allow users to share their fundraiser in both their Feed and within Stories. The test will initially run in the U.S., U.K. and Ireland on Android and will be followed by iOS.

While users can choose to either start a cause or support an existing one, Instagram says all fundraisers will be first vetted to ensure they meet the existing guidelines and rules.

The feature is meant to support more time-sensitive causes, rather than serve as a replacement for ongoing fundraising efforts.Donations to the fundraiser itself will be powered by Facebook Pay.

What Does it Mean?

Fundraising has become a popular activity across Facebook’s platforms as digital activism has increased globally. Although this is only a test, we see it is likely that Instagram will roll this out to all markets.

The company says users have raised more than $65 million for COVID-19 and racial justice fundraisers across Instagram and Facebook since January.

Earlier this year, Instagram alsorolled out live fundraisers for Instagram Live, and in 2019, it created a donation sticker for nonprofits that can be used in Stories. The company has clearly found that making money-raising tools available to its users is powerful and popular, so it’ll likely continue expanding that product and is aiming to capture some of the revenue via Facebook Pay.