PayPal Giving Fund partnership for Meta Charitable Giving Tools: a nonprofit guide

As of October 31, 2023, Meta will partner exclusively with PayPal Giving Fund (PPGF) to support donations benefiting nonprofits in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, and will no longer process donations through its licensed payment entities (Meta Payments Inc. or Facebook Payments International Ltd) or other partners (e.g., Network for Good). This change will affect Facebook's Charitable Giving Tools such as the Fundraiser API, Charitable Giving API, fundraisers, and donation options. 

You can find more information on Meta’s partnership with PayPal Giving Fund on the Facebook Help Centre, or read on to find out:

• What changes are being made
• What it means for your nonprofit
• What actions you need to take and the key dates 
• How GivePanel is supporting you

What is PayPal Giving Fund?

First up, what is PayPal Giving Fund (PPGF)? PayPal Giving Fund is a registered charity that helps people worldwide support their favorite nonprofits online by receiving and processing donations from a range of technology platforms such as eBay, GoFundMe and Twitch to thousands of nonprofits globally. Their goal is to inspire a new wave of philanthropy and harness the power of technology to make giving part of everyday life and, in 2021 alone, raised more than $425 million (USD), received contributions from more than 9.4 million donors, and made grants to more than 140,000+ nonprofits worldwide. 

Your nonprofit will more likely than not already be enrolled with PayPal Giving Fund and offering this as another route to engage new donors and raise funds for your mission. You can find full lists of nonprofits who are already enrolled with PayPal Giving Fund for the UK, US, Canada, and Australia on the PayPal website.

What does the new donation flow look like?

Starting on November 1, 2023, Meta will no longer absorb the third-party payment processing fees for donations made on its platforms. Instead, the revised donation process provides donors with the option to cover these processing fees. So, how does this work?

For donors, the donation interface remains mostly unchanged, featuring an input field to specify the desired donation amount. However, there is now an additional checkbox below that says 'Cover the donation processing fee,' accompanied by a brief explanation regarding the payment processing fee adjustment. By default, this checkbox is unselected, leaving the decision to cover the fee to the donor.

In the United Kingdom, the payment processing fee structure amounts to 1.4% of the donation value plus £0.20. In the United States, the fee structure is 1.99% of the donation amount plus $0.49. Consequently, the displayed donation total will be adjusted based on the chosen donation amount. For instance, a $100 donation will incur a $2.53 donation processing fee.

New donation flow on Facebook as of November 1, 2023

What changes are being made?

As part of their ‘Year of Efficiency’, Meta is undergoing a number of initiatives across the business to make their operations more efficient and build a better technology company for the long-term as they invest more in areas such as short-form video, AI, and the Metaverse. 

For most nonprofits, this ‘Year of Efficiency’ will not affect the day-to-day of how you utilize Facebook and Instagram for your social fundraising efforts; Meta Charitable Giving Tools are still here and here to stay. However, some changes are coming to the backend payment processing for donations on Facebook and Instagram that you need to know about. 

US nonprofits: changes you need to know and key dates

• August 30, 2023: Facebook Admins and Finance Contacts for US charities will receive an initial communication from Meta on the coming changes. 
• From September 15, 2023 onwards: US charities will not be able to take on new recurring donors but will receive payments from existing recurring donors until October 31, 2023. You can find out more about recurring donations in the Facebook Help Center. 
• From October 31, 2023 onwards: All payments received via Meta Charitable Giving Tools to US charities who are onboarded to PayPal Giving Fund will be processed by PayPal Giving Fund. Note: Nonprofits can receive payments from PayPal Giving Fund beginning September 15 if they take the required actions.

• From October 31, 2023 onwards: Any US nonprofit that has not accepted the updated Charitable Giving Terms and switched to PayPal Giving Fund by this date will be offboarded from Meta Charitable Giving Tools.

Example of communication for US nonprofits in Meta Charity Manager

UK nonprofits: changes you need to know and key dates

• August 30, 2023: Facebook Admins and Finance Contacts for UK charities will receive an initial communication from Meta on the coming changes.
• From August 31 to September 15, 2023: UK donors who haven't previously donated through Facebook Payments will be unable to either create a new fundraiser or donate to a fundraiser. If a new donor attempts to donate or start a fundraiser, they will receive an error message explaining why they are restricted. 
  
• From August 31 to October 31, 2023: UK charities that receive donation payouts from Facebook Pay will only be able to receive donations from donors who have previously used a Facebook Payments account. 
• By September 15, 2023: UK charities will need to have taken the required actions to switch to PayPal Giving Fund by this date in order to receive donations from people who have never donated on Facebook or Instagram before. 
• From September 16, 2023 onwards: UK charities that have taken the required action and switched to receive donations from Facebook Pay to PayPal Giving Fund can receive donations made by any donor (previous and new). Please note that due to regulatory requirements, people who haven't donated on Facebook before will only be able to donate to new fundraisers (created on or after September 16) and will not be able to donate to fundraisers created before this date.
• From November 1, 2023 onwards: All payments received via Meta Charitable Giving Tools to UK charities who have taken the required actions to switch to PayPal Giving Fund will be processed by PayPal Giving Fund. Any UK nonprofit that has not accepted the updated Charitable Giving Terms and switched to PayPal Giving Fund by this date will be offboarded from Meta Charitable Giving Tools.

Example of communication for UK nonprofits in Meta Charity Manager

It’s important to note that if your nonprofit is based in Australia or Canada, the changes you and your donors encounter will be minimal as PayPal Giving Fund is already the payment partner for Meta Charitable Giving Tools in these countries.

Ireland will also not be affected by this switch however while there is no action required for Irish charities at the moment, if a UK donor who hasn't donated on Facebook before tries to donate to an Irish charity they may not be able to until November 1, due to regulatory restrictions.

Changes to Meta Charitable Giving Tools by feature

Overall, the changes that will be made are predominantly backend infrastructure changes however there will be slight differences in the user experience donors receive when making donations on Facebook or Instagram. There will also be changes to the data nonprofits receive from Meta Charitable Giving Tools. 

Donations

• Payment processing fees: Meta will no longer absorb the cost of the third-party payment processing fees for donations made on its platforms. There will be a change in the donation flow to give the donor the option to cover the processing fee. For donations in the UK, the payment processing fee structure is 1.4% + GBP 0.20. For donations in the US, the payment processing fee structure is 1.99% + USD 0.49.
• Donation receipts: Receipts for donations made on Facebook or Instagram will be sent to the end user from PayPal Giving Fund rather than from Meta. End users will continue to see their donation records in their Facebook Activity Log. 
• Payouts: PayPal Giving Fund will make payouts to nonprofits 15-45 days after the donations have been received. Those nonprofits who have not enrolled with PayPal Giving Tools will receive a check within 90 days. Read more in the Facebook Help Center. 
• Charity reporting API: Meta will continue to maintain this however there will be changes to the fields provided. 
• Transaction reports: Meta will continue to report on donations through the manually generated transaction reports however there will be changes to the fields provided.
• Gift Aid (UK only): From 1 November 2023, Gift Aid information will no longer be included in Meta transaction reports. Donations to benefit UK charities via Meta platforms are made to PayPal Giving Fund UK, who claims the Gift Aid on eligible donations and grants it in full to benefiting charities at a later date. Read more in the Facebook Help Center. 

Fundraisers

• Fundraiser end dates: Any Fundraisers that were created before September 15, 2023 and before a nonprofit takes the required actions to switch to PayPal Giving Fund will automatically end on October 31, 2023. Note: if your charity wants to set up Fundraisers that have a later end date, you should first take the required actions and switch to PayPal Giving Fund before September 15 and secondly set up new Fundraisers after September 15. 
• Fundraiser API: Meta will continue to maintain this and Fundraisers will still be created via the API. 

Transaction reports and data

• Reports: After the switch, there will continue to be transaction reports provided by Meta for charity accounts and the data you receive will be largely unchanged.
• No more data delays: There will no longer be a 48+ hour delay on data in Facebook and you should be able to pull transaction data from the previous day and even partial same day. 
• Linked Instagram fundraiser data: As of 15 September 2023, for those charities who have completed the transition to PayPal Giving Fund you will be able to see synced data for fundraisers that have been shared between Facebook and Instagram.
• Charity IDs: Nonprofits are being assigned new Charity IDs in the Facebook Transaction Reports after switching to PayPal Giving Fund. If you are a GivePanel customer, please note we have updated our systems so you can continue to upload your data into GivePanel without any problems, with your new Charity ID.  
• Tax receipts: Meta will no longer provide tax receipts as of October 31, 2023. 
  
  

What this means for your nonprofit

Arguably the biggest change for nonprofits is that 100% fee-free Facebook donations will be over (well done to all nonprofits who made the most of this while it lasted!). The good news is that there will be changes to the donation flow to ask donors to cover the small processing charge for their donation. For donations in the UK, the payment processing fee structure is 1.4% + GBP 0.20. For donations in the US, the payment processing fee structure is 1.99% + USD 0.49.

In reality, this change in how fees are paid will likely make a minimal difference to nonprofit payouts. PayPal is one of the most widely used, safest, and trusted online payment systems with over 173 million people using PayPal in 202 countries with 21 different currencies according to the latest figures, and so we don’t expect conversions to be drastically affected. 

For fundraisers, GivePanel’s pioneering 1-Click fundraising solution will not be impacted by these payment processor changes; you can be safe in the knowledge that GivePanel will continue to deliver market-leading ROI and return-on-ad-spend for your Facebook fundraising strategies and events.

What steps do you need to take? 

1. Complete the switch to PayPal Giving Fund

If your nonprofit is already onboarded with PayPal Giving Fund, great news; you are already ahead! As you already receive payouts from PayPal Giving Fund, you will only need to review and accept updated Charitable Donation Terms before the deadline outlined above. You should have already received a communication from Meta with a link to review and accept the terms, or you can also find this on your Charity Manager. 

If your nonprofit is based in the UK and US and is not yet registered with PayPal Giving Fund, you need to complete a few more steps so we recommend starting the onboarding process as soon as possible to ensure your ongoing access to Meta Charitable Giving Tools and ability to collect donations on Facebook and Instagram. 

For UK charities, please visit the PayPal Giving Fund UK website for step-by-step guidance on enrolling your organization for PPGF. For US charities, please visit the PayPal Giving Fund US website. 

2. Inform your supporter-facing teams 

We expect some short-term issues with data reporting changes during this transition, so we advise you to start now and get your Support and Data teams equipped with the knowledge they need around these changes and key timelines. Publish an article on your nonprofit website with some FAQs that you can direct any supporters to in the interim, and keep this updated with guidance as these changes are rolled out.

As Meta will no longer absorb the cost of the third-party payment processing fees for donations made on its platforms, you should also alert your finance team to the new processing fee structure so they can adjust budget projections accordingly. There will be a change in the donation flow to give the donor the option to cover the processing fee. For donations in the UK, the payment processing fee structure is 1.4% + GBP 0.20. For donations in the US, the payment processing fee structure is 1.99% + USD 0.49.

It’s important to note that if your nonprofit is based in Australia or Canada, the changes you and your donors encounter will be minimal as PayPal Giving Fund is already the payment partner for Meta Charitable Giving Tools in these countries.

Ireland will also not be affected by this switch however while there is no action required for Irish charities at the moment, if a UK donor who hasn't donated on Facebook before tries to donate to an Irish charity they may not be able to until November 1, due to regulatory restrictions.

3. Protect the ROI of your Facebook Challenges

For September Challenges we don’t anticipate any issues with fundraiser end dates as long as they don’t extend past October 31. However, we would advise prepping those team members who are managing your September Facebook Challenge Group with a crib sheet of potential questions and answers regarding donations via Facebook versus PayPal Giving Fund.

If your nonprofit is delivering a Facebook Challenge in October (with a recruitment month of September), it's important to note that any Fundraisers that were created before September 15, 2023 and before you take the required actions to switch to PayPal Giving Fund will automatically end on October 31, 2023, and will no longer be able to accept donations after this date. So, if your charity wants to set up Fundraisers that have a later end date, you should firstly take the required actions and switch to PayPal Giving Fund before September 15 and secondly set up new Fundraisers after September 15. These Fundraisers can then run into November and beyond. 

If you would like to speak to us about your Facebook Challenges, please reach out to your dedicated Customer Success Manager or support@givepanel.com.

4. Connect with your P2P fundraising platform

We recommend reaching out to your P2P fundraising platform to ensure that any steps that need to be taken on their end to maintain or update your site’s Facebook integration are done in a timely manner so as not to disrupt your live and upcoming integrated fundraising campaigns.

How GivePanel is supporting you 

Meta will be communicating with your Facebook admins directly on what this means for your nonprofit account and the steps you need to take. Meanwhile, the team at GivePanel will continue to liaise with the teams at Meta to ensure these changes have as minimal impact on our nonprofit customers as possible. We will also monitor Facebook Challenge and organic fundraiser benchmarks closely to see if there are any knock-on effects from this transition. 

If you would like support and guidance for your charity, or have any questions, you can reach out to your dedicated Customer Success Manager or support@givepanel.com. Our Customer Success, Product, and Engineering teams will be working closely with our customers to ensure this transition is as smooth as possible, and also prioritize any developments to the GivePanel app to ensure you continue to receive excellent service.