Running a charity stream can be an incredibly rewarding experience, bringing communities together for a great cause. With the increasing popularity of charity initiatives on streams, it’s essential to plan and execute your event effectively. This guide will walk you through the steps of organizing a successful charity stream using Streamloots, the leading monetization platform for creators and their fans
Choosing The Initiative Or Charity To Support
When planning a fundraiser charity event, you have two options to consider. You can either support an established charity organization or fundraise for a single person, institution, or cause outside the scope of a charity organization. Each approach has its unique considerations:
- If you opt for an established charity, it’s crucial to thoroughly research the organization and its cause. Ensure that the charity aligns with your values and resonates with your community. By promoting their work, you inspire confidence and commitment in your viewers, boosting the success of your event.
- On the other hand, if you choose to fundraise for an individual or a cause not affiliated with a charity organization, you’ll need to take additional steps to communicate the purpose to your audience. Clearly explain who/what the fundraiser will benefit, provide background information, detail how the donations will be utilized, and outline how viewers can participate.
For instance, the Light In The Fog event serves as a remarkable example of a successful fundraiser that rallied the Dead By Daylight Community to support one of their own in their battle against ALS. Explore their website for inspiration on how to effectively communicate your event’s objectives and purpose.
Setting Goals For Your Initiative
Establishing goals for your charity stream is essential for motivating your community and demonstrating the impact of their contributions. An overarching fundraising goal allows your viewers to understand the difference they can make and tracks the progress throughout your event.
- Determining a suitable fundraising goal may be challenging, especially if you’re new to managing such initiatives. Start with a moderately attainable target that gives your community a sense of accomplishment. Remember, you can always increase the goal as your community helps you achieve milestones.
- To further incentivize participation, consider offering unlockable rewards for viewers as they reach specific donation thresholds. Take inspiration from events like Games Done Quick, which introduce new speed running challenges for streamers whenever they meet donation thresholds during their charity video game marathons.
- During the Light In The Fog event, an overall contribution goal was prominently displayed on-screen, continually updated as milestones were reached. Streamloots’ Goal Widget, integrates as a browser source using a provided URL, facilitating the seamless tracking of progress towards the goal.
Setting Up The Donations System
Streamloots offers versatile options for collecting donations during your charity stream. To streamline the process, consider following the successful approach used in the Light In The Fog event.
- For events centralized in a single Twitch channel, create a dedicated Streamloots account to act as a hub for donations. This account helps funnel all donations appropriately. If multiple streamers participate, sharing the same widget ensures donations remain centralized.
- To prevent excessive interactions and interruptions, limit the purchase of special donation cards. Viewers can donate by purchasing a pack of donation cards, priced at $1 each, which includes a special donation card. This simplifies the calculation of the total donations through the goal widget.
- Enable alerts for donations above a specific threshold, such as $50, showcasing the donor’s name on-screen for six seconds accompanied by a GIF. For larger donations, such as $500, trigger a special donation animation. By structuring the alerts in this manner, the goal widget does not become overwhelmed, and significant donors receive well-deserved recognition.
Additionally, consider carefully managing interaction cards to maintain a balance between donations and engagement. While you can include interaction cards, exercise caution to prevent an overload of such cards during a charitable event. One effective strategy is to tie the redemption of interaction cards to actions that help spread awareness of the event. For instance, during the Light In The Fog event, interaction packs were exclusively gifted to viewers who engaged with specific tweets.
Another Alternative: Auctions!
Streamloots also offers the option to fundraise for your cause through Auctions, where participants can bid on unique items or experiences. To gain inspiration, explore the variety of charitable auctions conducted during the Light In The Fog event, including the opportunity to choose a streamer’s next tattoo!
Managing Donations
If you’re interested in running a charity event with Streamloots, our team is ready to support your initiative. Reach out to us through Discord to discuss your event details. You can also mention us on Twitter, and we’ll be happy to help you spread the word. For charity initiatives, Streamloots waives the platform fee, ensuring that viewer contributions have the greatest possible impact (Note: PayPal fees may still apply).
Handling documentation and proof of donations depends on the type of fundraiser you organize. If your funds are directed towards a registered charity institution, request a Donation Receipt from the organization to share with your community as evidence of the money being delivered. For direct collections, familiarize yourself with the process of issuing donation receipts, especially for annual tax purposes, according to your country’s tax regulations.