Social media has transformed our lives by bridging the gap between communities. We are living in an age where information has flowed unabated and people have fuelled new revolutions through the social media.
Facebook, the flag-bearer of the perks that come with the rise of social media, has posted on its blog that 770,000 users from more than 175 countries across the globe came together and helped raise more than $15 million to aid the victims of the devastating earthquakes that killed thousands in Nepal.
The company claims that the money raised through its Donate feature was used to assist the International Medical Corps in its rescue efforts. Through its users nearly 210,000 people affected by the aftermath of the earthquakes have been alleviated.
Facebook’s Donate and Safety Check features proved fruitful during the aftermath of earthquakes. The company added that more than 8.5 million people used its Safety Check tool to help notify friends and family – over 150 million users – about their condition following the natural calamity.
The Safety Check feature was introduced into Facebook to do just that — notify your loved ones about your safety following a disaster. Though it’s been just a few months since the feature was introduced, its inception goes back to the 2011 earthquake that led to Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan.
Its Donate button on the other hand was introduced in 2013 to help Nonprofit Organizations garner funds from its users. As a philanthropic gesture, Facebook did not charge any processing fee for the donations.
Facebook also stated that it provided a sum of $2 million was provided by matching grant to fund local organizations in Nepal.
An additional matching grant of $2 million from Facebook was used to fund local organizations in Nepal — Give2Asia, in partnership with Facebook, is distributing these funds to support ongoing relief and rebuilding efforts like restoring electricity to rural areas, building semi-permanent shelters and classrooms to replace damaged schools, providing psychosocial training for teachers, and providing improved construction training to crews rebuilding across Nepal.
To remind its users the reach of its platform and acknowledge the donors who helped raise $15 million, Facebook is going to send videos thanking the donors.
This week, everyone who donated to support Nepal on Facebook will receive a notification which includes a thank-you video. We want to show people what their donations provided by introducing them to some of the people they helped and the heroes they enabled, like Amir Thapa, who joined International Medical Corps’ WASH team just a few days after the earthquake hit. Amir has since become a full-time International Medical Corps staff member and because of the funds raised by the Facebook community, his work has helped International Medical Corps make a difference for more than 210,000 people after the earthquake and has kept outbreaks of deadly diseases, like cholera, from growing in Nepal.
