Although it began as a streaming service exclusively for gamers, Twitch now hosts over 100,000 concurrent streamers on average at any point in time in a variety of different categories, such as politics, arts & crafts, and music. There is even a stream of wild animals eating food left out for them.
The pandemic accelerated Twitch’s already healthy global growth by nearly every metric in 2020 and continues to do so in 2021. For example, hours watched more than doubled in January 2021 compared to January 2020, as did the number of content creators.
Fundraising on Twitch also experienced similar growth, with charity livestreams raising over $83 million in 2020 compared to $55 million in 2019. The most successful charity streams tend to be events planned and promoted weeks or months in advance, such as this ‘Build Against Cancer’ livestream in support of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Hosted by streamer DrLupo for the 3rd consecutive year, the event featured celebrities and gamers who collectively raised $2.3 million in 24 hours for the charity.
Twitch’s status as a major peer-to-peer fundraising platform was confirmed during a ‘get out to vote’ event featuring US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Canadian politician Jagmeet Singh, along with a diverse set of streamers.
Near the end of the stream, Ocasio-Cortez mentioned that she was raising funds to support food-insecure people. The streamers promoted the link to the fundraiser in their respective chats and their audiences donated over $100,000 within an hour and over $200,000 in total.
Charity livestreams do not have to be high-profile to be successful. Most charity streams raise a few thousand dollars, which is still a success if you’re a smaller nonprofit or if you’ve just started experimenting with livestreaming.
What makes Twitch an effective fundraising platform?
While there are many platforms you can host a charity livestream on, such as Facebook and YouTube, Twitch offers the following advantages:
- Audiences are more likely to respond to calls to action on Twitch than on other platforms. This is because livestreaming is a personal, interactive, and long-form method of entertainment. The average audience member on Twitch spends more time watching and engaging with content creators in real time than audiences on other platforms such as YouTube.
- Twitch has fostered a culture of donating to streamers. Viewers can support certain Twitch Affiliate creators by clicking the donate button to send a tip or charitable contribution. Uniquely, Twitch has a text-to-speech alert system that reads out messages submitted by viewers along with their donations. This keeps the broadcast interactive and entertaining, while also allowing streamers to thank donors in real time. A Twitch survey also revealed that 78% of viewers want to see more charity livestreams on the service, further indicating potential for reliable fundraising.
- While the average Twitch viewer is 21 years old, minors account for a big chunk of Twitch viewers. Twitch has very clear community engagement guidelines and terms of service which it enforces strictly and has permanently banned some of the most popular creators for violating them. This creates an advertiser-friendly environment which may make it easier for you to secure corporate sponsorships for your fundraiser.
Twitch Fundraising Best Practices
Partner with a creator
While you can run the livestream from your nonprofit’s Twitch account, you are much more likely to get better results if you partner with a creator with an established audience. Livestreaming is a personal, interactive method of engagement and followers watch their favorite streamers for hours on end. Communities cultivated over time by creators, regardless of size, are loyal to them and will donate to causes they promote.
Choose creators with common values
There are thousands of charity stream channels on Twitch. Research streamers to make sure their values align with your nonprofit’s. Most streamers have a regular schedule, so you should watch their streams and note the following:
- How do they interact with their followers?
- Do they thank new subscribers or donors?
- Is their content appropriate for your brand and cause?
- How well do they work with their moderators to regulate their chat?
Finding common ground or some ideological alignment with creators will not only make them more likely to dedicate a charity stream to your cause, but it will also ensure that their support for your cause comes across as authentic. Authenticity is a common characteristic among most successful streamers, and it is helpful when communicating the urgency of your cause to an audience.
Pitch, don’t request
While you can contact them in multiple ways, such as via Twitter, Reddit or Discord, the best way to reach out to Twitch creators is via email. Streamers with larger followings may have an agent manage such requests whereas smaller streamers may do so personally. In either case, clearly communicate to them the benefits of participating in your charity campaign, such as increased viewership, goodwill from fans, favorable press coverage and access to your nonprofit's audience.
Since creators tend to receive many collaboration requests, they may not respond at first or at all, even after you follow up. Mentioning how your fundraiser will benefit them will make them more interested in your request. In some cases, they may even refer you to another streamer they think might be a better fit.
Make donating easy
You can raise funds during the livestream even if your fundraising software doesn’t integrate with Twitch. Twitch chats tend to be very busy, and have moderators monitoring them to regulate conduct. Creators can circulate the link to your donation form in their chat, and viewers can donate directly to your organization. If you do decide to use a donation form to collect donations, make sure you follow best practices to make the giving experience a pleasant one.
Equip creators with marketing collateral
Provide streamers with resources to help them promote and clearly communicate with their audience about your cause. Create marketing materials for the broadcast such as:
- Overlay graphics the streamer can place on their screen during the livestream
- An impact statement demonstrating what a donation will accomplish. Make sure your impact statement is short and memorable, as the creator will repeat this statement multiple times during the broadcast.
- A messaging toolkit containing talking points, logos, graphics, success stories, hashtags or emotes the streamer can use to promote your mission on social media and during the broadcast itself. Such toolkits make promoting and running the fundraiser more convenient for the creator you work with, and ensure consistency in their messaging.
- UTM tracking links streamers can share in their chat, especially if you’re working with multiple streamers. This is a specialized URL the audience will use to visit your donation page. While you can use a regular URL, a UTM helps you track data you can analyze to plan future livestreams. You can generate a UTM using your social media management software or via Google’s UTM generator.
Don’t dictate content
While you should provide streamers with messaging materials to better promote your cause, the actual content of the stream should not be much different than the streamer’s regular content. Your call to action will resonate with the audience more if they are entertained, which is more likely to happen if you let the streamer have creative control over the event.
Most charity livestreams are like the streamer’s regular content punctuated by appeals to donate to your cause. This is another reason to approach only those creators that are aligned with your brand image and who appeal to demographics you would like to target.
Conclusion
Given Twitch’s continued growth, increasingly mainstream status and its audience’s willingness to support charitable causes, investing time and resources into building relationships with streamers can be a worthwhile endeavor that can lead to charity livestreaming becoming a reliable revenue source for your nonprofit.
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