• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, April 9, 2020

TikTok on Thursday announced several initiatives to support those most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some $25 million will go toward ads to help nonprofit organizations, trusted health sources, and local authorities send critical public health messages, along with another $100 million in ad credits to small and-medium sized businesses as they look to rebuild..

The support for SMBs will begin rolling out to markets in the coming months, depending on the decisions of public health authorities worldwide.

“Cherished patterns of life are being disrupted; in-person contact with friends, family, colleagues, and communities has been altered or ceased altogether; and we're united in our concern for loved ones who are working hard on the front lines of the global health battle,” Alex Zhu, president at TikTok, wrote in a post.

With the donations announced today, the Chinese video-sharing social network owned by ByteDance joined the ranks of many individuals such as Bill Gates, and companies such as Google and Facebook, among others, that are donating to help those in need.

Twitter and Square founder Jack Dorsey, for example, donated $1 billion worth of equity in Square to his Start Small LLC to fund COVID-19 relief worldwide.

TikTok, through the Health Heroes Relief Fund for healthcare workers, plans to donate $150 million toward medical staffing, supplies and hardship relief.

Another $40 million becomes available through the Community Relief Fund. This fund is available to local organizations that serve groups representative of TikTok's user communities, such as musicians, artists, nurses, educators, and families that have come together on the platform.

TikTok will be providing $50 million in grants to educators, professional experts, and nonprofits whose skills and expertise spreads educational information and useful course material in an accessible, distance-learning format.