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After months of rumors, the exciting news finally broke at Facebook’s Developer Conference: Instagram launched the donate sticker for Stories, allowing people to raise money for nonprofits from their friends and followers.

This isn’t just a sparkly new toy for social media influencers to play with. It has the potential to be BIG.

According to our 2019 Benchmarks Study, Facebook Fundraisers made a real difference for some organizations. The average nonprofit raised $1.77 through Facebook for every $100 they raised through other online channels. And for some groups, the payout was much, much larger. As in, worth a third or more as much as all other online sources combined (hello, Health groups!).

Instagram’s donate tool is the next iteration of this trend, and we recommend nonprofits jump on it early. Here’s how:

1. Make sure your organization is set up so people can raise funds for you. Instructions from Facebook here. If you are already set up to use benefit from Facebook Fundraisers, chances are you’ve already taken all these steps. (Note: Eligibility requirements are the same as Facebook Fundraisers, so c4 organizations and many non-U.S. orgs are still left out in the cold.)

2. Tell your Instagram followers about the new way to support your cause. Remind them of why they care so much about your issue and your nonprofit, and make the case that this Instagram sticker is a meaningful way they can make an impact.

3. Give love to those who are raising funds for you and donating. Keep an eye out in your mentions — and don’t forget to check your DM requests too! Reply to people to thank them. Take note of anyone who has a large following and add them to your Influencer list. You may even want to share some of fundraisers to your own Stories.

It’s worth noting that Instagram audiences skew younger than other platforms and are thus not your typical fundraising demographic. Still, don’t wait to experiment! You do have current and future supporters on the channel and you’ll want your promotion to be among the first they see (and respond to!). And if you or an organization you love is doing this right, we would love to see it. Send those stories over to @MRcampaigns.

Oh, but yes, the expected caveat…similar to Facebook’s fundraising tools, you won’t be able to easily export donors’ and fundraisers’ email addresses to keep track of activity in your CRM. Learn more about why that’s an issue here.

For more advice on how to take advantage of social fundraising tools, head on over to our last post How to make Facebook Fundraisers work for you. The same strategies will apply for Instagram.

Have questions about the Instagram donate sticker? Ask them in the comments below!

The donate sticker has come to Instagram Stories. Here’s how to make the most of it: https://t.co/33mEt0yqMU #sm4np pic.twitter.com/aHwz03CtOx

— M+R (@MRCampaigns) May 1, 2019