NEW! You Should Be Adding A Donate Button To Your Nonprofit Instagram Profile

November 5, 2019
By: Erica Linguanti

Earlier this year, Instagram rolled out a feature that allows nonprofit accounts (and their supporters) to add a “donate” sticker to Stories. Now, Instagram has upped the ante with the introduction of NEW “donate” buttons on Instagram profiles. With end-of-year fundraising about to hit, if you haven’t set up your organizations donate button already – you should!

Check out the Instagram “donate” button we added for YMCA of the Treasure Coast.

To get started you will need to verify that your nonprofit Facebook account is eligible for a Donation Account.

- Visit facebook.com/donate/signup to submit your page for Community Review (this can take 2-3 weeks so don’t wait until the last minute).
- Once approved create your donation account. Please keep in mind you will need:

1. 1. 1. A PDF copy of a bank statement from the last 3 months (you will need to upload this as part of the application). Submitting a statement that is older than 3 months will cause a delay in your application being approved.
    2. The name and date of birth of your organization’s CEO or Executive Director.
    3. Your organization’s tax ID number (EIN or VAT number), which verifies your charitable tax exemption status
Once your Facebook Donation Account is ready to go, you will want to ensure that your Instagram profile is setup as a Business Account.

- If you’re unsure how to do this take a glance at these step-by-step instructions from Instagram.
Next, you’ll need to enable Instagram Story donation stickers. To do this simply navigate to your nonprofit Facebook page > Publishing Tools > Donation Settings > Check “Allow people to add donation stickers on Instagram Stories”. donation_settings.

4. Assuming you’ve completed the above steps, you’re ready to add a “donate” button to your nonprofit Instagram profile. On Instagram go to Settings > Business > Donations > Toggle “Add Donate Button to Profile”.

It is worth noting that because Facebook owns Instagram, any donations from Instagram will be deposited through your Facebook Donation Account (just like Facebook birthday fundraisers).

While adding a “donate” call-to-action button on your Instagram profile can certainly help make it easier for your supporters to donate to your cause – don’t forget to leverage storytelling to remind your followers WHY you need their support. Remember – empathy sustains charity!

Erica Linguanti

Erica passionately believes that the emergence of social media has created an opportunity for organizations to innovate and engage with donors in entirely new ways. Erica leads the strategy and execution of all marketing initiatives at Achieve, with an emphasis on helping nonprofits tell their stories digitally. By combining the unique needs of nonprofits with experience from working closely with major “for profit” brands – including Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt, Preferred, and IHG – she has developed unique tactics to drive interest for causes (and convert that interest into action). Erica holds a BSBA in Marketing from the University of Central Florida.