Facebook Fundraisers launched in India to help push Covid-19 relief efforts

Facebook will also run a week-long live session from artists, publishers and creators to encourage people to donate to these charities.

Facebook Fundraisers has raised over 3 billion globally since 2015, the company said. (REUTERS)

Facebook on Monday announced the launch of 'Facebook Fundraisers' in India to help drive Covid-19 relief efforts. It also announced a Social-For-Good Live-a-thon initiative through which celebrities, publishers and creators can encourage people to donate to charities.

Facebook Fundraisers lets users create a dedicated fundraising page for a cause and urge people to donate to it. Facebook users will find the fundraisers feature on the left side of the homepage. Just tap on 'see more' and select fundraisers from the dropdown menu. After this, users can select the charity that they wish to make a donation for. On Facebook's mobile app for Android and iOS, users can select the hamburger menu to access it.

In India, people can donate to over 70 charities via Facebook. Some of these include Goonj, The Akshayapatra Foundation and Helpage India. Facebook has also partnered with GiveIndia to verify donations to these charities. Also, the charities in India will be powered by Razorpay.

Facebook's Social-For-Good Live-a-thon will start on April 24 and it will continue till May 1. During this week, celebrities, creators and publishers will go encourage people to donate via Facebook Live. Artists will go live from their Facebook accounts, and the donate button will be visible on the video itself. Facebook said it has over 150 partners who will take part for this cause.

Facebook also has a Covid-19 information centre which is pinned on top of the homepage for desktop and its mobile apps. Users can click on the link to find the latest global and India updates, information on Covid-19.