Charity Twitch streams: How to make your fundraiser a success
Charity Twitch streams are a fantastic way of fundraising for a worthy cause. Twitch’s focus on live content, audience participation, sustained running times, and a culture of community donation support make it a natural fit for hosting engaging, entertaining, multi-hour charity drives. In many ways it’s the perfect online home to evolve the traditional TV telethons of old. Indeed, as of Sept 2020, Twitch charity streams had raised a staggering $200m+. The system works.
But just as important as the potential results is knowing the right ways to get them. But we can help you with that. Having worked with charities a lot, and having a strong understanding of how Twitch works, we’re here to give you the full run-down of considerations, concerns, and overall best practice when putting together a charity Twitch stream.
1. Choosing a charity
There is no ‘best charity’ to choose. You should always choose a cause that you care deeply about, as the authenticity of your choice will come across during your stream. Your audience will notice your passion for supporting your cause, and jump right into that boat with you. If you are torn, or struggling to choose a charity, you can always poll your community for ideas or give them a choice between your top options. Or if you really can’t decide, then why not fundraise for multiple charities? It’ll make setup a little harder, but absolutely can be done!
Above: SpecialEffect’s annual GameBlast event is the UK’s biggest charity gaming marathon, and unites an army of streamers for a great cause.
As for moving forward, make sure you get in touch with the charity ahead of time and let them know you are planning to do the stream. Some charities employ dedicated staff to work with the gaming industry and content creators, and can likely help by furnishing you with key messaging phrases to use, overlays, or even rewards for your stream. They can also likely let you know of any topics, phrases or subjects to avoid talking about, that might misrepresent their work.
For Twitch Partners, charities can apply for your charity stream to be present on the front page, to help rally the community and drive that donation goal forward. Bear in mind though, that charity streams shouldn’t be seen as a way to grow your community through extra exposure. Your only goal on that day should be to support that cause.
One final thing to beware of is the increased pressure from charities to join in their events once you start participating in fundraising content. With more organisations realising the power of livestreaming, more and more are reaching out to creators’ inboxes and asking them to stream on their behalf. You cannot say yes to them all. Doing so would be asking too much from your community, and leads to a problem called ‘donor fatigue’. Better to choose the events that really speak to you (ideally spread throughout the year), and focus on doing the best job for them.
2. Setting Goals and Rewards
Start realistically. Yes, we often see amazing creators raising massive amounts of money for charity, but you never know the background scenarios that have led to those numbers. Make sure to set a realistic goal that you think your community can hit, and then celebrate when you hit it. If you underestimate what you’re capable of achieving, you can always increase that goal as you go along, and celebrate more wins as your community keeps smashing through those targets!
Above: Warchild’s long-standing relationship with the games industry enjoys supportive realtionships with streamers, community, and developers.
To keep up momentum toward reaching your goals, having donation milestones can be a great way to keep the cash rolling in. For example, you could set a goal where at £500 total raised, you will invert the controls for the game you’re playing, unbind a key, or perform some other forfeit, leading to much hilarity. These are great ways to encourage your community to get involved and drive the content you’re making.
Conversely, you could set single donation rewards. An example of this would be, for every $10+ donation, you could write that person’s name on a post-it note and stick it on the wall behind you. Then at the end of the stream you can snap a big selfie with everyone who donated and celebrate, making for great follow-up social post content as well.
There are a number of charity donation platforms that let you customise goals and rewards, and that can give you real-time access to your fundraising data so that you can embed a tracker in your broadcast software. The tools and methods will vary depending on your set-up, but always check for plug-ins and direct connections you can make between your stream and your fundraising platform.
The final point to make on rewards is to celebrate every donation, no matter how small. Having worked at a charity myself, I can tell you that every amount of money contributes and really does matter. Yes a $500 mega-donation is amazing, but a $5 addition might also mean that the charity can feed one extra child, or plant one extra tree.
It's also important to acknowledge the fact that not everyone can donate in financial terms. It’s especially relevant as of the COVID pandemic that some people simply need to prioritise their own needs first. A good way to express this is to recommend that your audience only gives what they can afford to spare, and reiterate that just being there and watching the stream is a great way to support. Because it really is. Whether they donate money directly or not, every audience-member’s involvement helps, so let them know they’re appreciated.
3. Looking after yourself
Just like any broadcast you produce, make sure to look after your own physical and mental health during the course of a charity stream. Many of our overall content creator wellbeing tips apply to charity Twitch streams, but there are also some specifics you should keep an eye on. Take regular breaks, stand up and walk around, and make sure to get a decent meal when you need it (and not just rely on the disgusting weird jelly beans you’re eating for every $20 donation). One charity put it very eloquently in that “raising money to help one person’s health is great, but not at the expense of your own - that’s a net gain of human wellbeing of zero!”
We often see marathon 24-hour charity broadcasts happening, but do not think of these as the normal standard you need to hit. 24-hour streams are extremely demanding, and often require weeks of preparation beforehand. From our experience, going all-out for 4 to 8 hours will raise just as much as a 24-hour show, as over a longer period there are inevitably hours when your community is sleeping and less engaged.
Above: Getting involved in charity gaming marathon is a great thing to do, but you can’t shoulder all the work on your own.
One great way to both engage your audience and to give yourself a break is to invite guests to join your broadcast. Make sure that these guests are close friends or trusted colleagues, as anything they do/say during the stream will represent both you and the charity by association. Brief them beforehand on the cause and the ways that people can donate. That way, you might even be able to take a cheeky power nap and let your pals entertain the audience so you can recover your energy for the next bout.
Looking after yourself financially is also key. Make sure you definitely use a third-party donation platform that will receive the money and give it directly to the charity. If you try to take donations via your own streaming platform and then donate them on yourself, that money is technically income for you and therefore liable for income tax. Plus, the further away you are from the actual money itself, the less the ever-suspicious internet has to get cynical about.
Do some good, and do it the right way
Charity streams are still your content. You can fundraise (almost) any way that you see fit, but make sure to tailor your message to the cause. Set yourself realistic goals and make sure to look after yourself during your broadcast. Whether you raise $100 or $100k, that money will be vital to the cause you are supporting. What really matters is getting the process right along the way, for you, your charity, and your community.
