How to receive donations on Instagram: bio link, Stories and Live
How to receive donations on Instagram: a link in your bio, the link sticker in Stories, badges on Live, gifts and subscriptions, and what each route costs.
DonoLink editorial team.
This guide is for streamers in France. Use donolink.fr for your local page and share the public link from your dashboard.
Can you receive donations on Instagram?
Yes, in two ways that work side by side. Instagram has its own payment features: badges that viewers buy during a live, gifts they send with stars under your Reels, and paid subscriptions. These are not available to everyone. You need a professional account, you must be at least 18 and meet Instagram’s monetisation policies, there is often a minimum number of followers, and the feature has to be available in your country. Your professional dashboard shows which tools your account can use. The second way works for any account: your own donation page outside Instagram, where followers choose the amount themselves. You share that link in your bio, in your Stories and during a live. Below you will find how both routes work, what they cost and how to combine them.
Step 1: put your donation link in your bio
Your bio is where followers expect a link, and ‘link in bio’ is a familiar phrase on Instagram. Open your profile, tap Edit profile and add your donation page under Links. Since 2023 you can add up to five links to your bio; only the first one is shown directly, the others open in a menu. So put your donation link first, or mention it in your bio text, for example ‘Support my content through the link below’. Copy the public link to your donation page, never a dashboard or overlay address. Links open in Instagram’s built-in browser by default. Check on your phone that the page loads and that payment works; if it does not, a viewer can open the link in their usual browser from the menu.
Step 2: the link sticker in your Stories
The link sticker makes a Story clickable. Instagram opened it to all accounts in 2021; only brand new accounts and accounts that repeatedly break the rules may not have it. Create a Story, tap the sticker icon, choose Link, paste your donation link and place the sticker where text or your face will not cover it. Explain in one sentence what the support is for, such as a new camera or the cost of running your stream. A Story disappears after 24 hours, so save it as a Highlight on your profile and the link stays easy to find for new followers. Post a fresh Story with the sticker just before you go live: viewers who see your notification will find the link straight away.
Step 3: receiving money during Instagram Live
Not every account can go live any more: according to Meta, since 2025 you need a public account with at least 1,000 followers. Check in the app what applies to you. During a live your bio and Stories are not on screen, so help viewers yourself: say your link out loud, hold a QR code for your donation page up to the camera and point to the Story with the link sticker. If your account is eligible for badges, viewers can buy them during the live. Instagram lists amounts of 0.99, 1.99 and 4.99 US dollars and a maximum of 250 dollars per viewer per live; buyers get hearts next to their name. According to Instagram, Apple and Google keep 30% of in-app purchases, and Instagram itself currently takes no share.
Going live from your computer: OBS and Live Producer
With Live Producer you go live from instagram.com using streaming software such as OBS or Streamlabs, through a stream key. Not every account sees this option. Start a live on your computer, choose streaming software and copy the server URL and stream key into OBS under Settings, Stream, with the service set to Custom. The key changes every session, so fetch it again each time. Instagram recommends a vertical picture of 720 by 1280 pixels, so set your OBS canvas to portrait or your image will be cropped. Click Go live in Instagram once the preview comes in. Guests, Q&A and moderation do not work through Live Producer. The upside is that you can add sources, such as a QR code or an alert overlay from your donation page. Instagram badges and gifts will not appear there, because DonoLink has no Instagram integration; only donations through your own page show up as alerts.
Gifts on Reels and subscriptions
With gifts, fans support you under your Reels. They buy stars in the app and send a virtual gift; according to Instagram you receive 1 US cent per star. What a viewer pays for stars is set by Instagram and the app store. For gifts you need, among other things, a professional account, to be at least 18, a minimum number of followers and a payout account, in a country where the feature is available. With subscriptions, followers pay you a monthly amount that you set, in return for exclusive posts, Stories and lives and a subscriber badge next to their name. Meta said in 2023 that it charges no fee of its own on subscriptions and will announce any change six months in advance. When followers buy in the app, Apple or Google still take their fees. Here too, Instagram decides who is eligible.
Why add your own donation page?
A donation page does not depend on your follower count, your country or Instagram’s monetisation policies, and it works when you are not live. A follower chooses the amount, can add a message and pays without an account by card or a wallet, depending on what your page offers. No app store sits in between. DonoLink charges 3.5% per successful donation, with no subscription; Stripe charges its processing fees separately and handles your payouts. You use the same link on Twitch, TikTok, YouTube and Kick, so your community remembers one address. If you stream through OBS, you can show donations as alerts and display a goal. Instagram’s features and your own page do not rule each other out: use badges and gifts where they are available, and your donation link for everyone who wants to support you directly.
Staying safe and within the rules
Share one official donation link and never post bank details or a personal email address in your bio or DMs to collect money. Fake accounts sometimes pose as well known creators and send followers payment requests, so say in your bio or a Story that you never ask for money by DM. Do not tie donations to prize draws or promises you cannot keep, and do not present them as a charity fundraiser when the money goes to you. Instagram’s terms still apply to everything you post and say. Donor names and messages can appear on screen if you use alerts, so set a filter and a minimum amount for messages. Keep a record of every payment for your accounts.
Frequently asked questions about Instagram donations
Can you receive donations without 1,000 followers? Yes: a link in your bio and the link sticker have no minimum; only going live and Instagram’s own payment features have thresholds. Do you get an alert when someone buys a badge or sends a gift? Not through DonoLink: there is no Instagram integration, so only donations through your own page appear. Does a follower need an Instagram account? For badges, gifts and subscriptions, yes; for your donation page, no. Can you link to an external donation page? Instagram lets you share links in your bio and through the sticker; just follow its Community Guidelines. Does paying work inside the app? Usually; if the payment page does not load, open the link in your usual browser.