Facebook Launches GoFundMe Rival

Social networking giant Facebook is set to muscle the likes of GoFundMe out of the crowd-sourced fundraising game with the launch of its new Personal Fundraiser scheme. Personal Fundraiser is, like GoFundMe, designed to help people raise money either for themselves, a loved one, or a charitable endeavour via Facebook.

“When people mobilize around the causes they care about, it builds a safe and supportive community,” Naomi Gleit, Vice President of Social Good for Facebook, said. “Our charitable giving tools have made it easy for people to raise millions of dollars for nonprofits to support those in need directly on Facebook. Today we are expanding those tools to include personal fundraisers, as well as more options for people to continue to fundraise for nonprofits.”

“Personal fundraisers allow people to raise money for themselves, a friend or someone or something not on Facebook, for example a pet,” Gleit explains. “Personal fundraisers will launch in the US for people aged 18 years or older, and in beta over the next few weeks, as we hope to continue to learn and improve the product to make it even more useful. For example, we will begin with six specific categories for critical financial needs and include a 24-hour fundraiser review process. As we learn more, we hope to expand our categories and automate more of the review process.”

Facebook says that it does not intend to make a profit from Personal Fundraisers, and will only take admin fees from the crowdfunding campaigns to sustain the program and its fraud protection schemes.

“Personal fundraisers will have a 6.9% + $.30 fee, that will go to payment processing fees, fundraiser vetting, security and fraud protection,” she adds. “Facebook’s goal is to create a platform for good that’s sustainable over the long-term, and not to make a profit from our charitable giving tools.”

To begin with, Personal Fundraiser will be available to help Facebook users support costs related to the following:

• Education: such as tuition, books or classroom supplies
• Medical: such as medical procedures, treatments or injuries
• Pet Medical: such as veterinary procedures, treatments or injuries
• Crisis Relief: such as public crises or natural disasters
• Personal Emergency: such as a house fire, theft or car accident
• Funeral and Loss: such as burial expenses or living costs after losing a loved one