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$1B made for charities on Facebook, reminding us the web's not all bad

More than 20 million people have donated money via the social network.

Erin Carson Former Senior Writer
Erin Carson covered internet culture, online dating and the weird ways tech and science are changing your life.
Expertise Erin has been a tech reporter for almost 10 years. Her reporting has taken her from the Johnson Space Center to San Diego Comic-Con's famous Hall H. Credentials
  • She has a master's degree in journalism from Syracuse University.
Erin Carson
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People are using Facebook to donate to charitable causes.

Josh Edelson/Getty Images

Facebook users have raised more than $1 billion for charitable causes since 2015, the company said Wednesday in a blog post.

Over the years, that money has gone to nonprofit organizations and personal causes via Facebook's Donate buttons and its Fundraisers feature. More than 20 million people either have donated or have actually started a fundraiser. So, if you've kicked $20 to a friend's birthday fundraiser, that's you. 

"People around the world use Facebook's charitable giving tools to support a neighbor who lost everything in a fire, bring critical care to a child battling cancer, [or] help nonprofits bring food to those in need," Facebook's vice president for social good, Naomi Gleit, said in the post. 

Recipients of donations have included the Save the Children campaign, St. Jude and the Marine Mammal Center.

Facebook will be rolling out fundraising tools to Canada and Australia, and also plans to partner with PayPal and match up to $7 million in donations made on Facebook to US-based nonprofit organizations on Giving Tuesday (Nov. 27).

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