Facebook Inc. FB announced a number of tools and initiatives to promote social good at its second Social Good Forum held in New York.
Facebook’s continuous attempts to provide social security goes on to prove its new mission, which is to “give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together."
Facebook’s VP of Social Good Naomi Gleit was quoted saying, “We are constantly inspired by all the good that people do on Facebook and are committed to continuing to build tools that help communities do more good together.”
We believe these initiatives will help the company to improve its brand image and in turn draw more advertisers to its platform. Notably, Facebook has gained 52.3% year to date, substantially outperforming the industry’s 26.5% rally.
New Initiatives
Facebook declared that it is forgoing the 5% transaction fee that it used to charge on donations made to non-profitable organizations via its platform. Facebook will however continue to levy 6.9% payment processing fees in addition to charging 30 cents per donation on individual-established fund raisers in the United States.
Facebook also expanded its charitable tools to Canada, Australia, New Zealand and in European countries. Donations made to charitable organizations and individuals in Australia, New Zealand and Europe are free from any transaction fees per Facebook’s donation guidelines.
A Facebook Donations Fund of annual $50 million is also being set up to provide financial assistance during times of natural disasters or other important fundraisers.
The company also announced the launch of new Fundraisers API and Community Help API. The Fundraisers API will enable people to expand the reach of their Facebook fundraisers beyond the platform, thereby helping them to garner more support. Community Help API will provide disaster response organizations access to information related to the needs of crisis-affected people posted in Community Help section.
Facebook is also expanding its blood donation campaign. It plans to roll out the service in Bangladesh early next year.
The social networking giant also unveiled a new “Mentorship and Support” program that will connect users who require help from experts at non-profit organizations. For achieving this, the company is collaborating with iMentor for education related support and The International Rescue Committee for support on crisis recovery.
Facebook is considered to have pioneered the concept of social networking, which is why it enjoys a first mover’s advantage in this market. We believe that with the launch of more such initiatives, the company will witness an uptick in user base and engagements that will enable it to draw more advertising dollars.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
Facebook carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Better-ranked stocks in the broader technology sector include IPG Photonics Corporation IPGP, NetApp Inc. NTAP and NVIDIA Corporation NVDA, all sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks Rank #1 stocks here.
Long-term earnings growth rate for IPG Photonics, NetApp and NVIDIA is projected to be 19.7%, 11.3% and 11.2%, respectively.
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