Facebook Providing Online Training for Irish Charities

On Thursday 21st May, Facebook Ireland is hosting a free webinar session for Irish charities. The session is part of Facebook’s Friday for Good (FFG) programme which provides free training and support for Irish charities to maximise their reach and fundraising potential through Facebook.

Fundraisers on Facebook have raised over €1.8 billion worldwide for non-profit and personal causes. The Irish Cancer Society alone has raised €1.3 million through Facebook fundraising since the tools were launched in 2018.

In this online training session, Facebook experts will help NGOs set up their Pages to ensure they can access fundraising tools and guide them through tools such as the ‘Donate’ button, which can be placed on an organisation’s Facebook page and Instagram profile, in a post, or on a Facebook Live, enabling the charity to raise money in real-time.

Launching in 2019, Facebook Ireland’s Friday for Good programme has supported over 210 Irish charities through monthly workshops, training sessions and events and supported their campaigns with over €130,000 worth of free ad credit.

Commenting on moving Facebook’s Friday for Good programme online, Evin Gaffney, who leads the programme said;

“The impact of FFG has gone beyond our expectations. To date, we’ve helped hundreds of nonprofits such as Debra Ireland, Friends of the Elderly, Pieta House and Enable Ireland run campaigns on Facebook to achieve their fundraising ambitions. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, unfortunately, we’ve seen a number of annual charity initiatives and fundraisers cancelled.

However, through the FFG webinar this week, we want to show NGOs across Ireland that by using our fundraising tools, you can still generate support and collect donations directly through Facebook.”

Cheryl Gunning of Debra Ireland, having previously participated in the Friday for Good programme said;

“Friday For Good has provided Debra Ireland with practical training and support in using Facebook’s platforms to build and foster a community of supporters and tell the Debra story. Epidermolysis bullosa (EB) is a rare skin condition that not many people have heard of. There is a huge stigma attached to it as well and many of our patients feel very isolated.

By telling our families’ stories on Facebook, awareness of EB has grown. Our families feel heard and feel like their story is being told. Every year during our EB Awareness Week Facebook’s digital fundraising tools play a key role which allow us to achieve our fundraising ambitions and reach an audience we could not do on any other platform.”

This week’s webinar, on Thursday 21st May at 12 pm, is part of ‘Boost with Facebook’, a free weekly webinar series providing training and support to Irish SMEs and NGOs. The webinars are free and people can register to view them at Boost With Facebook.

Further updates on the schedule for ‘Boost with Facebook’ series can be found at Facebook Ireland and Boost with Facebook.