Facebook is very keen upon improving its Safety Check feature. The company has announced a slew of improvements to the feature that will make it that much more powerful. The biggest improvement of course, is the ability to start fund raisers for affected areas from within the Safety Check feature.
That’s right. Say there is a cyclone in a particular area, where would people turn to first to ensure that their loved ones are safe? Of course Safety Check. And with the introduction of this new feature, the will also be able to start and participate in fundraisers.
Fundraisers are nothing new to Facebook. The social networking platform with its huge, huge reach, introduced the ability to power personal fundraisers in March. The service rolled out to the public in May and now, can be used to raise money for personal causes, communities and even sports teams.
The best thing about raising funds through Facebook, and this is something where the platform has an edge over the likes of GoFundMe and Kickstarter, is that you feel an instant personal connect to the person. And of course, the people who are already connected (such as friends and family) can directly contribute.
Meanwhile, the fundraiser that will accompany the safety check feature will also allow people who are not in affected areas to donate to fundraisers. The feature isn’t currently available though and will roll out in the coming weeks to people in the US. As far as a global roll out is concerned, we may have to wait or a bit longer.
The social networking platform has also introduced a couple of other features, including he ability to include more information about crisis situations and the option of leaving a personal note alongside their Safety Check news feed story.
Fundraisers are a big business. Personal raises on Facebook will benefit the social networking platform as it will be taking a 6.9 percent + $.30 fee that goes to payment processing, fundraiser vetting, and security and fraud protection. On nonprofit raises as well, it will take a 5 to 5.75 percent fees.
The company also said that it was working with NC4, a trusted third-party global crisis reporting agency, in a bid to report crisis and add descriptions to fundraises — so as to help people understand exactly what is going on.
Finally, people will be able to add a personal note to when they mark themselves as “safe”. This will help their loved ones know their situation in more exacting terms.
