Pinterest has announced the next evolution of its Inclusion Fund initiative, which aims to provide training and support to small businesses, independent publishers, and creator agencies that are owned and operated by those from historically marginalized communities.
Well, kind of, as Pinterest has changed the requirements a little, but it’s essentially the same focus, just applied in a different way.
As explained by Pinterest:
“In celebration of five years of uplifting emerging content producers on the platform, Pinterest is unveiling an enhanced Pinterest Inclusion Fund program for 2025. This year’s incubator program includes a renewed focus on supporting a cohort of creators, and is all about connecting small merchant businesses and content creators from the beauty, fashion and lifestyle sectors with people on Pinterest who are looking for fresh ideas and products.”
The program will be expanded to more regions in 2025, with creators from the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, the U.K., Germany, France, India, Australia, Japan, and Indonesia, all able to apply.
Eligible creators/brands will need to meet the following requirements:
- Must create content that supports our inclusive product tools, such as skin tone and/or body type ranges
- Must create content within fashion, beauty and/or lifestyle verticals
- Must be 18 years of age or older
- Must be an active content creator who shares content on at least two other social media platforms
- Is looking to grow content creation skills on Pinterest
- Can commit to office hours and program sessions
So Pinterest has altered the entry requirements slightly, in that up till now, only businesses that were at least 50% owned and operated by those from underrepresented communities, or stocked 70% or more of their products from sources that support consumers from the same, could apply.
Now, Pinterest has changed that to the first point around utilizing its inclusive features. Which is a bit more vague, but it could also provide Pinterest more flexibility in which applications it accepts.
If you meet these requirements, then the Inclusion Fund is open to all small merchant businesses and content creators in this segment.
“Accepted participants will get access to training and resources to help them optimize their organic content for growth and discoverability on Pinterest.”
Originally launched in 2021, Pinterest says that the Inclusion Fund has supported over 350 content producers thus far, helping to drive ongoing success in the app.
Indeed, Pinterest says that participants in last year’s program increased their Pin saves by over 250%, and their outbound clicks 147x following completion of the program.
So there’s significant benefit, while Pinterest also notes that people who use inclusive features on Pinterest save 75% more Pins than those who don’t.
So there’s clearly opportunity to connect, while also enabling Pinterest to amplify these creators.
It’s a good initiative, which seems to be driving success, so if you meet the above requirements, it could be worth a look.
