Instagram Highlights Giving Tuesday to Support Creators and Small Businesses

Each year, Giving Tuesday is a reminder that generosity always matters but especially during the holiday season, and after the hustle and bustle of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. In order to draw attention to this lesser celebrated occasion, Instagram is currently amplifying a “Giving Tuesday” shared story which you’ve probably already spotted on your home screen. The goal is to encourage Insta-lovers to support small businesses via IG Shops, and to make it easier to donate directly to nonprofits as you scroll. 

Looking to have your donation or act of generosity to included in Instagram’s story? Simply use the “I Donated” or “Donation” sticker to your story before you post. 

“We’re featuring a shared ‘Giving Tuesday’ story at the front of your Stories bar, encouraging people to support small businesses directly on Instagram,” said Instagram in a blog post. “Accounts you follow who use the ‘I Donated’ or the ‘Donation’ sticker will be added to the shared story for a limited time.”

This is a win-win for you and Instagram. Using this sticker will enable Instagram to filter through their tags and add relevant stories to their Giving Tuesday highlight, and it will encourage your followers to click through, or do the same for themselves. 

If you’re unable to give funds today, you can still participate by encouraging followers to support small businesses through your grid or stories. Just like the Giving Tuesday sticker, Instagram also has a “Support Small Businesses” and a “Buy Black” sticker that will pull your content to those stories (should it pass Instagram’s screening process.) Either way, these are a great means to an end in terms of driving your followers to the pages of others you’d like them to support. 

Instagram’s Giving Tuesday story will only be available till the end of the day, but the social media giant is set to release a highly anticipated update for all ‘grammers that will highlight personal fundraising. 

Right now, this personal fundraising feature is only available for Android users in the US, UK, and Ireland and for Android users. But iOS-grammers will have their chance to utilize it in the near future. Payments are totally safe and go through Stripe (the same platform Facebook uses). Finally, you must be 18 or older to start a personal fundraiser, which you can learn how to do right here. 

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