How Meta Ads Work for Nonprofits

If your goal is donations, Meta has tools for them, and a policy that can apply to ads that discuss, debate or advocate on social issues. This page sets out what Meta’s own pages say about both, and marks advice as advice. Rules change, so treat it as checked on 2 Oct 2026.

Which Meta tools help a nonprofit raise money?

Meta documents these tools, not all of them ads:

• Page fundraisers. You can create a fundraiser from a Page for a registered nonprofit on Facebook, and raise money for several at once. Meta says fundraisers are public, but only people on Facebook can donate. It says Facebook doesn’t charge fees on donations to nonprofits and that they go directly to the nonprofit. It also says to check that donations are available in your country.
• A donate button on Facebook Live, for eligible nonprofits or nonprofit fundraisers. Meta says personal fundraisers are not eligible, and donations are not available in all markets.
• The Donate Now call to action on an ad. Meta says you need to enroll your charitable organization with Facebook payments first.

Meta says the buttons you can choose differ for each campaign objective, and that an Instant Experience ad can’t have a call-to-action button.

What you can do: check the enrollment step before you plan a campaign around the button.

How do you measure donations?

Meta’s Donations metric counts donate events tracked by one of your Meta business tools, such as the Meta Pixel, Conversions API or Facebook SDK, and attributed to your ads. Meta says some events may be counted by statistical modeling when data is partial or missing. It also says that for results on iOS 14+ devices, the metric may not be calculated.

Website donations counts the Donate standard event on your site when the Pixel or Conversions API tracks it. Donation ROAS is donate conversion value divided by amount spent, using the value of website, mobile app and Meta donations.

What you can do: advice, not a Meta rule, is to send the Donate event with a value if donors give on your own site, so the ROAS figure has something to divide.

When does a cause ad count as a social issue ad?

Meta’s review article says an ad needs authorization and a “paid for by” disclaimer if it includes discussion, debate or advocacy for or against social issues in certain countries. Its topic list includes civil and social rights, crime, the economy, education, environmental politics, health and immigration.

Meta’s examples of election or politics content include advocacy for a change to law or policy, and a call to sign a petition aimed at an elected official. Meta also says an ad whose primary purpose is selling a product or promoting a service may not count as a social issue ad, and that its policy focuses on the content of the ad.

What you can do: read the related political ad entry before you write copy that argues for or against a policy. If Meta flags an ad by mistake, Meta says you can appeal with Request review in Ads Manager.

What do authorized charities get?

Meta says qualifying charitable and humanitarian organizations can run specific social issue ads across the United Kingdom and the United States. The ads still need disclaimers and must not include electoral, political or legislative content.

For authorization, Meta says advertisers who are not yet authorized are prompted to confirm their identity, and the ads need a “paid for by” disclaimer. The ads go into the public Ad Library for seven years. You choose the social issues, elections or politics special ad category when you create the campaign. If you do not, and Meta decides the campaign is about those topics, Meta says it will be disapproved.

Meta says you can only target the country you are in, and that qualifying organizations, including non-governmental organizations, can run social issue ads across markets once they have completed authorization and transparency requirements in at least one country.

In the European Union, Meta says advertisers can’t create or edit ads about social issues, elections or politics.

FAQ

Can a nonprofit use the Donate Now button?

Yes, after enrolling the charitable organization with Facebook payments. Meta says the buttons available differ for each campaign objective, and Instant Experience ads can’t carry a call-to-action button. Check the objective and format before you build the ad.

Does every nonprofit ad need an authorization and a disclaimer?

Meta says its policy focuses on the content of the ad, so certain ads will require authorization and a disclaimer and certain ads will not. Meta ties the requirement to ads that discuss, debate or advocate for or against social issues, so check yours against its topic list.

Can a nonprofit run cause ads in the EU?

Meta says that in the European Union advertisers can’t create or edit ads about social issues, elections or politics. The rule is about the content of the ad. Advice, not a Meta rule: read Meta’s policy page and its topic list before you assume a donation appeal falls in or out.