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Social media is a great tool for raising money for charitable causes—or even just to get you through an unforeseen emergency. In a very on-brand move for 2020, Instagram now lets users set up personal fundraisers for smaller causes like helping sick family members or aiding local business in keeping their doors open right now. The new feature is rolling out slowly to select Android and iOS users in the US, UK and Ireland, but it will expand to more people in the coming weeks.

While business accounts have been able to run fundraisers through Instagram for some time, the process to set up crowdfunding for personal causes is different. Personal fundraisers can be set up, submitted for approval and managed all from within Instagram; you do not need a linked Facebook business page, nor do you need to apply through Facebook’s Charitable Giving Tools like organizations do.

That said, there are still restrictions. In order to raise money for a personal cause on Instagram, users must:

• Be 18 years or older.
• Live in the US, UK or Ireland (users may be able to donate even if they aren’t able to create their own fundraisers yet or don’t live in those countries).
• Be raising money for a legitimate charitable cause (all fundraisers are submitted for approval from Instagram during the setup process).
• Note: donations may be subject to taxes and processing fees.

If you match those requirements, you’re free to start a fundraiser on Instagram… unless you don’t have the feature yet, in which case you’ll have to wait for it to arrive sometime in the future—yes, even if you live in the US, UK or Ireland. Instagram’s rollout timeline is vague; keep the app updated to make sure you get it as soon as possible.

How to create a personal fundraiser on Instagram

1. Open the Instagram app (make sure you’re signed in to the account you want to run the fundraiser through if you have multiple profiles)
2. Go to the profile tab, then tap “Edit Profile.” 
3. Scroll down and select Add Fundraiser > Raise Money.
4. Upload a photo to serve as the “homepage” for your fundraiser.
5. Select the fundraiser category, currency and funding goal, and add details about why you’re asking for donations.
6. Fill out the payment information.
7. Tap “Send” to submit your fundraiser to Instagram. You may have to wait a bit for your request to be approved.

Once your fundraiser is greenlit, a donation button will be added to your profile that your followers can use to contribute money. Fundraisers only run for 30 days by default, but Instagram allows you to extend the deadline as many times as you need to. Donations will be sent to your bank account once the fundraiser is over. You can manage all active and completed fundraisers and access payout information via Settings > Account > Fundraisers.

[Android Central]