Update on February 6, 2020 at 9:15AM PT: People have now raised over $3 billion for personal fundraisers and nonprofit causes on Facebook. Thank you to everyone who has started or supported a fundraiser using these tools – it’s amazing to see the impact you continue to make.

$1 Billion Raised Through Birthday Fundraisers

By Naomi Gleit, VP, Product Management 

Five years ago, many of us drenched ourselves in ice water to raise awareness and money for ALS, spurring major developments to fight the disease. Not only did the Ice Bucket Challenge inspire millions of people to help those with ALS, it was the inspiration behind our first fundraising tools in 2015. 

Since then, people have raised over $2 billion to support the people and causes they care about on Facebook, with $1 billion of that coming from birthday fundraisers alone. By dedicating their special day to a nonprofit organization, people rally their friends and family to support important causes. From birthdays and Giving Tuesday to anytime throughout the year, over 45 million people have donated to or created a fundraiser on Facebook — which has more than doubled since last November. 

Through Facebook Fundraisers, people have supported these organizations and many more: 

• The ALS Association has raised over $5 million using Facebook Fundraisers to help fuel their research and new breakthroughs for those with ALS.
• St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital supporters have given over $100M to ensure that no family ever receives a bill for treatment, travel, housing or food, because all a family should have to worry about is helping their child live.
• Veteran’s Matter has raised over $50,000 and housed over 100 veterans in 21 states.
• No Kid Hungry has raised enough money to connect kids with up to 100 million additional meals.
• Please Take Me There has provided 1,700 journeys to and from the hospital, helping 681 children with cancer and living in extreme poverty to receive the diagnosis and treatment they need.
• March of Dimes has raised more than $6 million to support healthy moms and strong babies because it’s unacceptable that every 12 hours a mom dies as a result of pregnancy or childbirth, and nearly half a million babies in the US are born prematurely or with birth defects each year.
• Fisher House Foundation has raised nearly $400K to support our military, veterans and their families during their greatest times of need: when their loved ones are receiving care at Departments of Defense (DOD) or Veterans Affairs hospitals, and the donations are equivalent to 40,000 nights families can stay at DOD Fisher Houses.

Thank you to everyone who supported these causes, and so many others. We know that $2 billion is just the start to the amount of impact our community will have. 

Instagram Donation Sticker Comes to Europe

Since we launched donation stickers on Instagram in the US earlier this year, we’ve seen how Instagram can be used for fundraising in addition to building awareness for causes. To help more people easily raise money for nonprofits through Instagram Stories, we recently expanded the donation sticker to Europe. Like all nonprofit fundraisers created on Facebook, 100% of the money raised goes to the organizations.

We are grateful to everyone around the world who has donated to or started a fundraiser using our apps. On behalf of the organizations and people who have benefited from your passion and generosity, thank you.