What Meta’s new location fees mean for charities running paid social

What are Meta’s location fees?

Location fees are additional charges applied to advertising spend depending on where ads are served.

Rather than being based on the advertiser’s country, the fee is determined by the location of the person seeing the ad. If your campaign reaches audiences in certain countries, an extra percentage is added to that portion of the spend.

These fees are tied to Digital Services Taxes (DST) - government taxes aimed at large technology platforms that generate revenue from digital advertising and online services. Instead of absorbing these costs entirely, platforms like Meta are increasingly passing some of them on to advertisers.

Current examples include:

• United Kingdom: around 2%
• France, Italy, Spain: around 3%
• Austria, Turkey: around 5%

In practical terms, if £1,000 of your advertising spend reaches audiences in the UK, you may pay an additional £20 on top of that spend.

On a single campaign, that might seem small. Across a year of paid media, it adds up.

The impact of Meta’s location fees

For many charities, Meta remains one of the most effective channels for:

• recruiting supporters
• generating donations
• building campaign awareness
• reaching new audiences

But the sector also operates under significant budget pressure and is already being impacted by wider Meta changes around targeting. Even small percentage increases in platform costs can affect how far campaigns go.

In practice, charities may start to see the impact in a few key ways:

1. Reduced reach for fixed budgets

Many charities run paid media on fixed budgets. If a percentage of that spend becomes a platform fee, less budget is actually going towards reaching people.

That means fewer impressions, fewer conversions and potentially fewer donations.

2. International campaigning becomes more complex

Many charities run cross-border campaigns, particularly those working in international development, humanitarian response or global advocacy.

Location-based surcharges mean that:

• targeting multiple countries may trigger multiple fee structures
• campaign costs may vary more than expected
• budgeting becomes harder to predict

3. Another reminder of platform dependency

More broadly, this change highlights the risk of over-reliance on a small number of platforms.

When Meta or Google adjust pricing structures, the ripple effects are felt immediately across the sector.

What charities should do in response?

The introduction of location fees doesn’t mean organisations should abandon paid social. For many charities it remains one of the most effective tools available. But it does reinforce the need for more deliberate media strategy.

Here are a few areas worth focusing on.

1. Revisit geographic targeting

For charities running international campaigns, it’s worth reviewing:

• which countries are being targeted
• where the strongest performance is coming from
• where the new fees may have the biggest impact

Optimising targeting can help offset rising costs.

2. Adjust campaign forecasting

If location fees apply to your campaigns, build them into budget forecasts. This helps avoid surprises when reconciling invoices or evaluating campaign performance.

3. Double down on efficiency

When costs increase, efficiency becomes more important. For charities this often means investing in:

• stronger creative testing
• better audience segmentation
• improved landing page experiences
• clearer value propositions

Stronger performance helps offset rising costs.

4. Diversify acquisition channels

Perhaps the most important lesson is strategic. Charities that rely heavily on one platform are more exposed to sudden changes in cost, algorithm behaviour or policy.

One way organisations are responding is by strengthening owned channels, particularly email marketing.

Paid platforms like Meta are excellent for reaching new audiences quickly. But email offers something equally valuable, the ability to build long-term relationships with supporters. Once someone joins your email list, you can stay in touch through impact updates, event invitations, appeals and campaign news, creating multiple opportunities to engage over time.

Many charities are now using lead generation campaigns on platforms like Meta to bridge the gap between paid and owned channels. Instead of asking for a donation straight away, these campaigns invite people to sign up to learn more about the cause. Those supporters can then be nurtured through email journeys that build familiarity and trust before introducing fundraising asks.

This approach helps organisations:

• build supporter databases they actually own
• reduce reliance on any single advertising platform
• create long-term value from paid media investment

You can read more about this approach in our guide to building engaged supporter bases through lead generation campaigns.

A changing digital advertising landscape

Meta’s location fees may look like a small billing adjustment, but they reflect a much wider shift in the digital advertising landscape.

As governments introduce new regulation and taxation for large technology platforms, it’s likely that similar pricing changes will continue to emerge.

For charities investing in paid media, the answer isn’t to step away from these platforms. Instead, it’s about approaching them strategically, balancing paid channels with owned audiences, investing in strong creative and supporter journeys, and building a more resilient marketing mix.

The organisations that succeed will be the ones that combine flexibility, audience insight and long-term thinking.