Instagram quietly unveiled a major change for nonprofits on the platform this week.
With less than a month until Giving Tuesday, Facebook appears to be quietly unveiling another way to simplify the giving process for nonprofits on Instagram.
Various nonprofits are sharing on social media that they are able to now add a “Donate” button directly to the top of their Instagram profiles – a straightforward yet significant structural change that will allow viewers to make a donation to their preferred organizations.
“Donating to Providence House has never been easier!” Tweeted Cleveland-based Providence House. “Go check out the new donate feature on our IG page @provhousecle and follow what’s happening at our house!”
An undated help article on Instagram’s knowledge base platform reveals the criteria for nonprofits to update their profiles to add the button. At publication time, there appears to be no official announcement from Facebook on its socialgood.fb.com website or on its official Nonprofits on Facebook page, where the most recent image posted is an announcement of the Instagram Stories donation sticker on April 30.
The most recent Tweet on @FBNewsroom announces the rationale for a new all-caps logo.
But perceptive nonprofit marketers quickly noticed the change. A Nov. 5 blog post by Erica Linguanti of West Palm Beach-based ACHIEVE Agency shares a screenshot of the YMCA of the Treasure Coast Instagram account with the new donate button at the top, and details the process for verified nonprofits to make the change.
Of the 10 Largest U.S. Charities as defined by Forbes, seven were found to have the donate button installed to their primary Instagram profiles as of Wednesday morning. The three without the button at publication time are the United Way (No. 1), Habitat For Humanity (No. 8), and The Y (No. 10).
Facebook – or, FACEBOOK – made waves in the spring by introducing a Donate sticker to its ephemeral Instagram Stories platform. Donation data from the donate sticker has not been announced.
This article has been updated to include a corrected Tweet from Providence House Cleveland.
