Facebook charges fees for disaster donations

NEW YORK (FOX5NY) - You might have seen some Facebook posts with a button to donate to organizations in connection with the recent hurricanes or Mexican earthquake.

It's a quick and easy way to get money to help in the disaster but donors should be aware that Facebook is charging fees to cover its expenses.

Facebook says that it is assessing a 5% fee for those donations to U.S. based charitable organizations that have been approved to receive donations through Facebook Payments. 

It says that two percent of that fee covers the costs of nonprofit vetting, fraud prevention, operational costs and payment support. Facebook says the remaining 3% covers payment processing.

Facebook, like many large companies, has made its own sizable donations.  Last month it said it would match Harvey disaster funds raised by its users up to $1 million.

Facebook is also allowing individuals who are not connected to charities to do their own fundraisers, for instance, to help rebuild a home.  But, in those cases, it is charging an even larger fee of 6.9% and a $.30 payment processing fee.

It should be noted that GoFundMe takes a larger 7.9% fee along with a $.30 payment processing fee.