EA Giving Tuesday, Dec 3, 2019: Instructions for Donors

Facebook is matching up to $7 million in donations made on December 3, 2019, and the EA Giving Tuesday team, in collaboration with Rethink Charity, aims to help direct as much of the matching funds as possible toward highly effective charities.

The EA Giving Tuesday team has released detailed instructions for EA donors participating in Facebook’s annual Giving Tuesday donation match this year.

We want to emphasize the importance of:

  • Speed. Per our instructions, fill out your donation early so you can calmly finalize your donation with one click by clicking the green “Donate” button within the first second of the start of the match.

    • In 2017, the match lasted 86 seconds; in 2018, it lasted 15 seconds; this year we expect it to run out much faster, plausibly in one second (personal median estimate: ~4 seconds).

  • Preparation. Follow the steps in our instructions by December 2 at the latest. The following are some notable details relevant to US donors (see instructions for other donors).

    • There are important thresholds at $500 (“Confirm Your Donation”) (UPDATE: 12/​2/​2019: Due to a change Facebook made this morning, there is no longer a “Confirm Your Donation” dialog for donors) and $2500 (“Confirm Your Identity”) that larger donors should know about and prepare for in advance.

    • $20,000 donors generally should make two consecutive $9,999 donations on different cards to reduce risk of payment decline.

  • Practice. Make a $5 donation (or two, as appropriate) and check the receipt timestamp(s) to verify that the donation(s) actually went through during the second you intended (e.g. the first second of a new minute, :00).

If you plan to participate this year, read our instructions and complete the preparation steps in advance in order to give yourself the best chance of getting your donations matched.

Related Forum posts about Giving Tuesday: