Facebook is getting rid of one of the most frustrating features of its fundraising platform: the 4.3% fees they tacked onto transactions in the U.S. and 6.2% in Canada. As TechCrunch reports, Facebook used those fees to cover a review and vetting process for each fundraiser, but the company finally realized that charging 4.3% for users to raise funds for shooting victims or Rohingya refugees isn’t a great look, so they got rid of those charges in November. While you still have to pay taxes and payment-processing fees, Facebook will absorb the bulk of the costs for non-profits. Now, they are extending the same benefit to personal fundraisers, like medical procedures (’cause we don’t have universal health care), school expenses, and natural disaster recovery.
While they were at it, Facebook also unveiled two new fundraising tools: the ability to make matching donations and more categories for personal causes, like adoption fees or vet bills.
Even if it’s a PR move to drum up some good press (which they could really use), it’s a worthy change that will make Facebook fundraising even more effective.
This article was updated to clarify Facebook’s changes.
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