Instagram plans to launch a donation feature

11 Feb 2019 News

Instagram is developing a new feature that will allow users to donate to charity, its parent company Facebook has announced.

Using the stories function, which allows users to share images or videos to their followers for 24 hours, people will be able to donate to organisations directly.

Speaking at a conference on Thursday, Facebook said the development was aimed at building community on Facebook.

A spokesperson from Facebook said: “Community is the backbone of Facebook. It’s what drives us to improve our products and build new ones. And it’s why we’re so committed to the inspiring leaders who are working every day to bring people together around important issues, shared passions and common causes.

There will be no processing fee for donations made in this manner, and the full amount will go to the charity.

This is among other initiatives Facebook has made for charity. Since 2015, charities have been able to add a donation button to their Facebook pages to drive funds to their causes. From November 2017, individuals have been able to set up personal fundraisers.

According to a study by research company, M+R Benchmarks, Instagram is the fastest-growing social media platform for non-profits.

The date of the launch has not yet been announced, although it the announcement said it will take place later this year.

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